Sex and money: they make the world go round and Sean Baker’s movies spin. Usually, there’s more of the former than the latter, in Tangerine, The Florida Project, and Red Rocket. And here again, Ani (Mikey Madison), a stripper, will trade what she has—which is sex—for what she needs—which is money. Enter Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), the guileless son of a Russian oligarch, who’s not just an easy mark, he’s richer than even Ani can dream of. These two meet and it’s fireworks and fairytales—cue a Vegas wedding—at least until his parents get wind of it. At which point, watch out, because Mr. Baker is just getting warmed up.
Greta Gerwig’s Cannes jury bestowed the Palme d’Or on this breathless modern Cinderella story, and it’s hard to remember a more entertaining winner. As always with Baker’s films, Anora comes on fast and funny but it’s unmistakably situated in the real world, a place where power typically trumps romance, but where you should never underestimate the survival skills of a woman with nothing to lose.
Palme d’Or, Cannes 2024
Media Partner
Community Partner
Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Karren Karagulian, Yura Borisov, Vache Tovmasyan
USA
2024
In English and Russian with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Ken Meyer, Clay Pecorin, Glen Basner, Alison Cohen, Milan Popelka
Producer
Sean Baker, Alex Coco, Samantha Quan
Screenwriter
Sean Baker
Cinematography
Drew Daniels
Editor
Sean Baker
Production Design
Stephen Phelps
Sean Baker
Sean Baker is a writer, director, producer, and editor. His credits include Starlet (2012), Tangerine (2015), the Oscar-nominated The Florida Project (2017), and Red Rocket (2021). Anora (2024), which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, is his latest film.
Filmography: Take Out (2004); Tangerine (2015); The Florida Project (2017); Red Rocket (2021)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Art of Adventure
The unbelievable adventure story of how painter Robert Bateman and ecologist Bristol Foster drove a Land Rover from Africa to Australia in 1957, developing a love of nature to last a lifetime. An inspirational love letter to the adventure of life itself.
Agatha's Almanac
Shot over six years on vibrant 16mm film, Agatha’s Almanac is an artful documentary portrait of filmmaker Amalie Atkin’s octogenarian aunt, who has fashioned herself an endearingly simple and self-sustaining lifestyle on her Manitoba farm.
Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other
This intimate and candid film by a younger husband and wife artist team is a delicate and immensely moving dual portrait of two artists, husband and wife, together and apart, at that point in life when the end casts a shadow over even the sunniest day.
Image: © Manon et Jacob and Final Cut For Real
