Sean Baker wins best director Oscar for ‘Anora’ in Academy Awards sweep

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Anora” creator Sean Baker won best director, best picture and two other Academy Awards at the Oscars on Sunday, bookending a dominant awards season for the American filmmaker whose stories seek to humanize sex workers and immigrants.

Baker, 53, wrote, produced, directed and edited the most dominant film of the night. The comedy-drama stars Mikey Madison as a Brooklyn exotic dancer who marries the impetuous son of a Russian oligarch. They impulsively tie the knot on a ketamine-induced Las Vegas getaway, angering his parents, who send their bumbling henchmen after the couple to force an annulment.

“Anora” swept on Sunday with five overall wins — two more than “The Brutalist.” Four of those statues went to Baker, who now ties Walt Disney for the most wins in a single year in Academy Awards history. (Unlike Disney in 1954, all Baker's wins were for a single project. Bong Joon Ho was the previous record holder for most wins for a single film, in 2020 for “Parasite.”)

In addition to best director and best picture, Baker won for best original screenplay and best editing — a rarity as directors don’t typically cut their own films. He came into the night the favorite for the directing Oscar after earning the top prize from the Directors Guild of America, a win that historically all but guarantees an Oscars victory. He also took home the top awards at the Producers Guild and Independent Spirit Awards.

In his best director acceptance speech, he exhorted filmmakers to keep creating projects for the big screen, bemoaning the erosion of the theatergoing experience.

“In a time in which the world can feel very divided, this is more important than ever,” Baker said. “It’s a communal experience you simply don’t get at home. If we don’t reverse this trend, we’ll be losing a vital part of our culture. This is my battle cry.”

Baker told Quentin Tarantino, who presented the award, that if he hadn't cast Madison in 2019's “Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood,” there would be no “Anora.” On Sunday, Madison took home the lead actress award — her first Oscar.

“Thank you so much to Sean. I adore you. This is all because of you,” Madison said onstage.

This year’s best director lineup featured five first-time nominees in the category for the first time in nearly three decades. All had writing credits on their respective films, demonstrating the academy’s growing preference for auteurs who can masterfully bring their own vision to life. For the Oscar, Baker beat out Brady Corbet of “The Brutalist,” James Mangold of “A Complete Unknown,” Jacques Audiard of “Emilia Pérez” and Coralie Fargeat of “The Substance.”

“Anora” brings Baker’s signature style of provocative comedy from indie theaters into the mainstream, blending slapstick humor with social commentary in a way that makes lessons about marginalized groups palatable to a wider audience. He made the film on a modest budget of $6 million — an amount one producer previously joked is smaller than the catering budget of some of its competitors. He said Sunday that it was the best $6 million ever spent. Last year’s best picture winner, “Oppenheimer,” had a $100 million budget.

Baker has been vocal about the difficulty of making independent films and surviving as an indie filmmaker in an industry that increasingly supports big-budget spectacles. In a rousing speech at the Independent Spirit Awards, he said indies are in danger of becoming “calling card films” — movies made only as a means to get hired for projects at major studios. Without backing for independent films, he said, some of the most creative and innovative projects might never be made.

He said he hopes the success of “Anora” will increase support for indie projects.

Baker has long been passionate about using his craft to help destigmatize sex work. His 2012 film “Starlet” follows a budding friendship between an adult film star and a crotchety widow who sells her a thermos full of cash at a yard sale. Baker said the connections he formed with sex workers involved in the project inspired him to feature them in several other films.

He received widespread praise for “Tangerine” (2015), in which he used three iPhone 5S smartphones to tell a story about transgender sex workers in Los Angeles. In “The Florida Project” (2017), a single mother living in an Orlando motel turns to sex work to provide for her daughter. And “Red Rocket” (2021) follows a retired porn actor's journey back to his small Texas hometown.

Baker and Madison weren't the only ones to pick up Oscars for “Anora” — producers Alex Coco and Samantha Quan, Baker's wife, also received statues for the best picture win.

This story has been corrected to fix an editing error; “Parasite” won in 2020, not 2017.

For more coverage of the Oscars, visit https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards.

Karren Karagulian, from left, Samanthan Quan, and congratulate Sean Baker for winning the award for best film editing for "Anora" during the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Sean Baker accepts the award for best director for "Anora" during the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Quentin Tarantino look on from right.(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Sean Baker, winner of the award for best film editing for "Anora," poses in the press room at the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Samantha Quan, left, and Sean Baker arrive at the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Sean Baker accepts the award for best director for "Anora during the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Quentin Tarantino, left, presents the award for best director to Sean Baker for "Anora" during the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Sean Baker, winner of the awards for best original screenplay, best film editing, best director, and best picture for "Anora," poses in the press room at the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) poses in the press room at the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will face a second day of grilling from Democrats on Capitol Hill, with senators getting their first opportunity on Thursday to confront or praise the Pentagon chief over his handling of the Iran war.

Hegseth battled with Democrats — and some Republicans — a day earlier during a nearly six-hour House Armed Services Committee hearing, where he faced sharp questioning over the war’s costs in dollars, lives and the diminishing stockpiles of critical weapons.

The Senate Armed Services Committee will hear a similar presentation on the Trump administration’s 2027 military budget proposal, which would boost defense spending to a historic $1.5 trillion. Hegseth and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, will again stress the need for more drones, missile defense systems and warships.

Here's the latest:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is sitting before senators in what’s expected to be another fiery hearing on the Hill.

The defense secretary’s hearing is ostensibly to discuss the Pentagon’s $1.5 trillion budget request to Congress, but it’s the first time that senators will get to publicly question him since the Iran War began nearly two months ago. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, is also seated beside Hegseth.

The defense secretary also appeared for a House hearing Wednesday and he drew a large crowd of anti-war protesters to the hallways of the House office building where the hearing was held.

On Thursday, things feel a bit more low-key in the Senate, although there are a handful of people in the hearing room wearing pink shirts that state “Peace with Iran.”

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Thursday spoke by video with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, China’s state media reported, ahead of a planned state visit by President Trump to Beijing in mid-May.

The two sides had a “candid, in-depth and constructive” exchange, the state broadcaster China Central Television said. The Chinese side lodged “solemn concerns” over recent restrictive trade measures imposed by the U.S. on China, but the statement didn’t specify the measures.

Last week, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned a China-based oil refinery and 40 shippers involved in transporting Iranian oil. The U.S. Trade Representative Office this week held a hearing on the use of forced labor in foreign goods.

The president is continuing to pillory German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who’s been increasingly critical of the U.S.-Israel war against Iran.

Trump in a social media post said Merz “should spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine” and “fixing his broken Country, especially Immigration and Energy” and less time concerning himself with the Iran war.

The latest criticism by Trump of Merz came the day after the U.S. president announced he was reviewing the U.S. military presence in Germany, a NATO ally that hosts several American military installations.

U.S. officials are appealing a judge’s order that blocks the government from cutting the number of vaccines recommended for every U.S. child.

Government lawyers on Wednesday filed the one-sentence appeal.

It was a delayed response to a March 16 order by U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, who blocked an order by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. — announced in January — to end broad recommendations for all children to be vaccinated against flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis and RSV.

Murphy’s order also stopped a meeting of a Kennedy-appointed vaccine advisory committee. The stay continues while the appeal is considered.

The Trump administration is constrained by the 1973 law, which requires several notification and approval steps meant to keep a commander-in-chief’s military powers in check.

One of its provisions is that military action authorized by the president must end after 60 days unless Congress has explicitly approved it, or has declared war. That 60-day clock runs out Friday.

One White House official said the administration is in “active conversations” with lawmakers on addressing the deadline, but did not elaborate. The official was granted anonymity to discuss private deliberations. The administration can request a 30-day extension by telling Congress in writing that there’s a continued need for military action. The White House, which has long stressed that the president is working toward a diplomatic option in Iran, hasn’t indicated publicly whether Trump will seek that extension.

— Seung Min Kim

Under the plan, the United States would continue its blockade on Iranian ports, while coordinating with allies to impose higher costs on Iran’s attempts to subvert the free flow of energy, according to a senior administration official.

Trump is weighing multiple diplomatic and policy options to push Iran to end its chokehold on the waterway, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

— Aamer Madhani

U.S. jobless aid applications for the week ending April 25 fell by 26,000 by to 189,000, down from the previous week’s 215,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s well below the 214,000 new applications analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet were expecting.

Filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.

The four-week moving average of jobless claims, which evens out some of the weekly volatility, came in at 207,500, about 3,500 lower than the previous week.

The total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the previous week ending April 18 fell to 1.79 million, a decrease of 23,000.

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But the outlook is clouded by the Iran war.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — rebounded from a lackluster 0.5% expansion the last three months of 2025. The federal government’s spending and investment grew at a 9.3% annual rate in the first quarter, adding more than half a percentage point to growth after lopping off 1.16 percentage points in fourth-quarter 2025.

Growth in consumer spending, which accounts for 70% of U.S. economic activity, slowed to 1.6% in the first quarter from 1.9% at the end of 2025. But business investment, likely driven by investments in artificial intelligence, rose at an 8.7% pace.

Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes. That has driven energy prices higher, fueling inflation and hurting consumers.

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It’s the latest sign that the Iran war is pushing up the cost of living and delaying any interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

An inflation gauge monitored by the Fed rose 0.7% in March from February, up slightly from the previous month. Compared with a year ago, prices rose 3.5%, the biggest increase in almost three years.

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core inflation rose 0.3% in March from February, and it was 3.2% higher than a year earlier. The annual figure is above February’s reading of 3%.

Rising gas prices have caused inflation to move further away from the Fed’s 2% target, which has caused the central bank to keep its key short-term interest rate unchanged after cutting it three times last year. The Fed typically keeps rates elevated — or even raises them — to combat higher inflation.

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President Trump has again threatened that the United States could reduce its military presence in Germany, a key NATO ally and the European Union’s largest economy. Europeans have heard this before.

Trump’s social media post on Wednesday followed comments by Chancellor Friedrich Merz that the U.S. was being “ humiliated ” by Tehran as it slow-walks its diplomacy over the U.S.-Israel war against Iran.

Trump has mused for years about reducing America’s military presence in Germany, and has recently repeatedly railed against NATO for the its refusal to assist the U.S. in its two-month-old war.

U.S. allies at NATO have been waiting for the Trump administration to pull troops out since just after it came to office, warning that Europe would have to look after its own security, and that of Ukraine, in the future.

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A divided federal appeals court said Wednesday it won’t grant a rare meeting of its active judges to hear an appeal of an $83 million verdict against President Donald Trump for defaming a magazine advice columnist over an encounter three decades ago.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to reject a so-called “en banc” hearing comes several months after Trump appealed to the Supreme Court another jury’s decision to grant $5 million the writer, E. Jean Carroll, after concluding he had sexually abused her in a department store dressing room in 1996 and later defamed her. The high court hasn’t yet decided whether to hear the case.

Lawyers for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said in a statement that her client was “eager for this case, originally filed in 2019, to be over so that she can finally obtain justice.”

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Senate Democrats accused the Trump administration of abandoning the Environmental Protection Agency’s mission to protect human health and the environment at a congressional hearing Wednesday, slamming agency leadership over a proposal to cut its budget in half.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s appearance before the Senate environment committee was his last of three budget hearings this week where he argued for sharply reduced funding for the agency, which already has seen its staffing reduced to its lowest level in decades under his leadership. During much of the week, the former Republican congressman from New York took an aggressive approach, responding to Democrats in the House and Senate with his own questions and at times accusing them of being unprepared or failing to care about the EPA’s track record.

Zeldin has eliminated major climate change programs, promoted deregulatory efforts he calls the biggest in American history and canceled billions of dollars in Biden-era environmental justice grants to halt what he calls “EPA’s radical diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.”

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The price of Brent crude oil briefly surged past $126 a barrel early Thursday as stalled U.S.-Iran talks raised doubts over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a permanent end to the Iran war.

Brent crude to be delivered in June jumped 3.3% to $121.90 after briefly soaring past $126 per barrel. Brent to be delivered in July rose 1.4% to $112.02.

Benchmark U.S. crude climbed 1.3% to $108.28 per barrel.

Before the war began in late February, Brent crude was trading around $70 per barrel.

There’s no clear path to an end to the war. The U.S. has continued its blockade of Iranian ports while the Strait of Hormuz is closed, pushing oil prices higher. Reports Thursday suggesting a possible escalation by Trump doused hopes for a quick end to the conflict.

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Jerome Powell said Wednesday he plans to remain on the board of the Federal Reserve after his term as chair ends next month “for a period of time, to be determined,” saying the “unprecedented” legal attacks by the Trump administration have put the independence of the nation’s central bank at risk.

“I worry these attacks are battering this institution and putting at risk the things that really matter to the public,” Powell said in remarks at a news conference after the Fed announced its decision to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged.

Powell’s decision to stay — the first time a Fed chair will remain on the board as a governor since 1948 — denies Trump a chance to fill a seat on the central bank’s seven-member governing board with his own appointee. The Senate Banking Committee earlier approved Powell’s successor as chair, Trump appointee Kevin Warsh, on a party-line vote. Powell will continue as a Fed governor, possibly until January 2028. Warsh, if confirmed, will take a seat currently held by Stephen Miran, a previous Trump appointee, whose term ended in January.

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Hegseth will face a second day of grilling from Democrats on Capitol Hill, with senators getting their first opportunity on Thursday to confront or praise the Pentagon chief over his handling of the Iran war.

Hegseth battled with Democrats — and some Republicans — a day earlier during a nearly six-hour House Armed Services Committee hearing, where he faced sharp questioning over the war’s costs in dollars, lives and the diminishing stockpiles of critical weapons.

The Senate Armed Services Committee will hear a similar presentation on the Trump administration’s 2027 military budget proposal, which would boost defense spending to a historic $1.5 trillion. Hegseth and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, will again stress the need for more drones, missile defense systems and warships.

They are now also likely to face tough questions about American troop levels in Europe after President Donald Trump on Wednesday leveled a new threat against NATO ally Germany, suggesting he could soon reduce the U.S. military presence in the country as he feuds with Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the Iran war.

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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he meets with NASA's Artemis II astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman and Jeremy Hansen in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth appears before a House Committee on Armed Services business meeting on the Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2027, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey Jr.)