Baker was born and raised in Summit, New Jersey.[3] His mother was a teacher and his father was a patent attorney who once represented the director and his production company in a dispute over the title of his film Take Out.[4][5] He has a sister who is a professional synth-pop musician and production designer who has contributed to his films in both capacities.[6][7][8] He became obsessed with homemade movies at a young age after his mother took him to see Universal Monster films being projected at the local library.[9]
Baker's first feature film was Four Letter Words, a film revolving around the looks, views, attitudes, and language of young men in America. Baker wrote, directed, and edited the film.[13] Baker then went on to make Take Out (2004), which he co-wrote, co-directed, co-edited, and co-produced with Shih-Ching Tsou on a budget of $3000.[14] The film revolves around an undocumented Chinese immigrant falling behind on payments on a smuggling debt, leaving him only one day to come up with the money. The film had its world premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival on January 18, 2004 and had been screened at over 25 film festivals when a legal dispute with Seth Landau, who was planning to release a film with the same name, delayed its release until June 6, 2008.[15][5]
Baker's third feature film, Prince of Broadway, premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 22, 2008.[16] The film follows a Ghanaian immigrant selling knock off merchandise in Manhattan who discovers that he has a son.[17] Baker directed, wrote, co-produced, shot, and edited the film. Baker also self-financed the distribution and advertising of the film.[18]Take Out and Prince of Broadway were nominated for the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award at the same ceremony in 2008.[19]
The director's fourth feature, Starlet, was co-written with Chris Bergoch, and stars Dree Hemingway and Besedka Johnson. Starlet explores the unlikely friendship between 21-year-old Jane (Hemingway) and 85-year-old Sadie (Johnson), two women whose lives intersect in California's San Fernando Valley. The film had its world premiere at SXSW on March 11, 2012[20] and was given a limited release on November 9, 2012.[21]
Baker's fifth feature, Tangerine, follows a transgendersex worker who discovers her boyfriend and pimp has been cheating on her. The film was shot using three iPhone 5S smartphones and received praise for its groundbreaking filmmaking techniques.[22]Tangerine features Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian, Mickey O'Hagan, and James Ransone, and was executive-produced by Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass. Baker again co-wrote the script with Bergoch; he also co-produced, co-shot, and edited the film. It had its world premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2015,[23] and was given a limited release on July 10, 2015.[24] It received extremely positive reviews, and holds a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[25]
In 2016, he directed Snowbird, a short fashion film starring model Abbey Lee for Kenzo. It was also shot only using iPhones.[26]
Baker's sixth feature, The Florida Project, premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival[27] and was theatrically released in the United States on October 6, 2017, by A24. Baker edited the film himself and co-wrote the script with his frequent collaborator Chris Bergoch. The plot follows a 6-year-old girl living in a motel with her rebellious mother in Greater Orlando as they try to stay out of trouble and make ends meet. The film was praised for its performances (particularly that of Willem Dafoe as the motel manager and Brooklynn Prince as Moonie, a six-year-old girl) as well as for Baker's direction, and was chosen by both the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute as one of the top 10 films of the year.[28][29] Dafoe earned Best Supporting Actor nominations at the Oscars, Golden Globes and BAFTA Awards, and Prince won the Critics Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer.[30][31][32]
I am an ally and have literally devoted my career to tell stories that remove stigma and normalize lifestyles that are under attack. I would never do anything that could possibly hurt the community.
In August 2020, actress Bella Thorne announced that Baker would be directing a documentary about her experiences opening an OnlyFans account, but Baker quickly denied the rumor as Thorne's suspicious behavior was blamed for restrictions affecting all sex workers on the site.[35][36][37]
In March 2021, Baker released short film Khaite FW21 produced for fashion line Khaite to promote its Fall/Winter 2021 lineup. Sean Price Williams served as cinematographer.[38][39][40]
Baker's seventh feature film, Red Rocket, stars Simon Rex as Mikey, a pornographic actor returning to his hometown in Texas. Baker directed, co-wrote and co-produced the film with his usual team of Bergoch and Tsou among others. Filming took place in secret amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, but "industry-standard safety protocols" were observed. The film received a standing ovation at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.[41][42] It was released in the US by A24 on December 10.[43]
In October 2023, Baker's next feature film Anora, starring Mikey Madison, was officially announced after distribution rights were acquired by FilmNation.[48][49] At a press conference during the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where the film premiered, Baker spoke about the topic of intimacy coordinators: "I think with intimacy coordination, it's a case by case basis, film by film basis. If an actor requests one, 100%[...] But I have directed approximately 10 sex scenes throughout my career, and I'm very comfortable doing so. It is our No. 1 priority to keep our actors safe, protected, comfortable and involved in the process".[50] For Anora, Baker became the first American director to win the Palme d'Or since Terrence Malick in 2011.[51]
Television
Baker is also one of the original creators of the sitcom Greg the Bunny (2002–2006), starring Seth Green and Eugene Levy. The show is based on a series of short segments that Baker directed and wrote, which aired on the Independent Film Channel and which were in turn based on a public-access television show called Junktape.[52] In 2010, Baker, Spencer Chinoy, and Dan Milano created a spinoff called Warren the Ape; the series aired on MTV and was canceled after one season.[53]
Style and influences
Baker has established a reputation for portraying outcasts and characters from underrepresented and marginalized subcultures, frequently undocumented immigrants and sex workers, in decidedly humane and compassionate scenarios.[54] He claims to have been directly inspired by exploitation films but he has been described as the archetype of a "trustworthy male director" in a post Me Too era.[55] His films have stirred and encouraged a debate about sexual morality.[56]
Baker with Samantha Quan at TIFF 2024 for the premiere of Anora
Baker is married to Samantha Quan, a producer on many of his films.[61] As of July 2021, they had two dogs, Bunsen and Boonee, the latter of whom acted in his 2012 film Starlet.[62] Baker stated at a 2024 Cannes press conference that he believes sex work should be "decriminalized and not in any way regulated, because it's a sex worker's body and it's up to them to decide how they will use it in their livelihood."[63] Baker suffered from opiate addiction in his twenties.[64]
The Cannes Film Festival, until 2003 called the International Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around the world. Founded in 1946, the invitation-only festival is held annually at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès. The festival was formally accredited by the FIAPF in 1951.
Simon Rex Cutright, known professionally as Simon Rex and his stage name Dirt Nasty, is an American actor and rapper. Rising to fame as an MTV VJ, Rex later became an actor known for What I Like About You, starring in three films of the Scary Movie franchise, and National Lampoon's Pledge This!. He later developed a rap persona, Dirt Nasty, and had several solo albums and co-founded the hip-hop group Three Loco. In 2021, he received critical acclaim for his lead role in Sean Baker's drama film Red Rocket, winning the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead.
The cinema of Russia, popularly known as Mollywood, refers to the film industry in Russia, engaged in production of motion pictures in Russian language. The popular term Mollywood is a portmanteau of "Moscow" and "Hollywood".
Shih-Ching Tsou is a Taiwanese-American film producer, director, and actress. She co-directed the film Take Out (2004) with Sean Baker. She also produced Baker's other films Starlet (2012), Tangerine (2015), The Florida Project (2017) and Red Rocket (2021).
The Queer Palm is an independently sponsored prize for selected LGBT-relevant films entered into the Cannes Film Festival. The award was founded in 2010 by journalist Franck Finance-Madureira. It is sponsored by Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau, filmmakers of Jeanne and the Perfect Guy, The Adventures of Felix, Crustacés et Coquillages, and L'Arbre et la forêt.
Miguel Gomes is a Portuguese film director, screenwriter and editor. He studied cinema at Lisbon Theatre and Film School. His films include The Face You Deserve (2004), Our Beloved Month of August (2008) and Tabu (2012), Arabian Nights (2015) and Grand Tour (2024). For the last, he won Best Director at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
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Chris Bergoch is an American screenwriter and producer, known for having co-written the films The Florida Project, Tangerine and Starlet as well as writing on the television shows Greg the Bunny and Warren the Ape.
Tangerine is a 2015 American comedy-drama film directed by Sean Baker, and written by Baker and Chris Bergoch, starring Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, and James Ransone. Set on Christmas Eve, the story follows a transgender sex worker who discovers her boyfriend and pimp has been cheating on her. The film was shot with three iPhone 5S smartphones.
Mya Taylor is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Alexandra in the 2015 film Tangerine for which she won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female.
Mikaela Madison Rosberg is an American actress. She began her career by portraying a sullen teenager in the FX comedy series Better Things from 2016 to 2022. She then played Manson Family follower Susan Atkins in Quentin Tarantino's period drama film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) and Amber Freeman in the horror film Scream (2022). Madison had her career breakthrough when she received acclaim for playing the title role of a stripper in Sean Baker's romantic dramedy Anora (2024).
NEON Rated, LLC, doing business as Neon, is an American independent film production and distribution company founded in 2017 by CEO Tom Quinn and Tim League, who also was the co-founder of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain. As of 2019, League is no longer involved with daily operations for the company.
Karla Sofía Gascón is a Spanish actress. She appeared in a number of telenovelas and films including El Señor de los Cielos (2013) and The Noble Family (2013). In 2024, she became the first openly trans actor to win a major prize at the Cannes Film Festival when she shared the Best Actress Award with her co-stars from Emilia Pérez, in which she played the title character.
Red Rocket is a 2021 American black comedy drama film directed by Sean Baker, who co-wrote it with Chris Bergoch. It stars Simon Rex, Bree Elrod, and Suzanna Son. The film stars Rex as a middle-aged, newly retired porn star who leaves Los Angeles for his small Texas hometown, plotting his way back to the life he once had. Along the way, he begins dating a seventeen-year-old girl.
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Payal Kapadia is an Indian filmmaker. In 2017, her short film Afternoon Clouds was the only Indian film selected for the 70th Cannes Film Festival. In 2021, she won the Golden Eye award for best documentary film at the 74th Cannes Film Festival for her debut feature A Night of Knowing Nothing. In 2024, she won the Grand Prix at the 77th Cannes Film Festival for her fiction feature debut All We Imagine as Light.
Yuri Alexandrovich "Yura" Borisov is a Russian actor. He was the winner of the Golden Eagle Award in 2021. GQ Russia chose him as Actor of the Year in 2020.
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Anora is a 2024 American romantic comedy-drama film written, directed, and edited by Sean Baker. It follows the beleaguered marriage between Brooklyn stripper Anora and son of a Russian oligarch Ivan Zakharov, and features a supporting cast of Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, and Aleksei Serebryakov.
Lindsey Normington is an actress, director, writer, singer and stripper best known her role as Diamond, the workplace enemy of the titular character in Sean Baker's Palme D'or winning Anora.
↑ Whitty, Stephen (2017-12-01). "NYFCC awards go to Saoirse Ronan, 'Girls Trip,' NJ director". nj.com. Archived from the original on 2021-06-11. Retrieved 2022-12-21. And Summit native Sean Baker's heartbreaking The Florida Project, about a struggling single mother and her amazingly resilient daughter, was not far behind, with a best director award for Baker and a best supporting actor prize for Willem Dafoe.
↑ Cody, Alice Roche (2016-05-09). "GSB Alumni Magazine: Winter 2016". GSB Alumni Magazine | Winter 2016. Gladstone, NJ. pp.3–7. Archived from the original on 2022-12-21. Retrieved 2018-06-26.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
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