Sean Baker’s ANORA, starring Armenian actors Karren Karagulian and Vache Tovmasyan, has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director (Sean Baker), Best Performance by a Female Actor (Mikey Madison), and Best Supporting Performance by a Male Actor (Yura Borisov).
ANORA is a 2024 American romantic comedy-drama film written, directed, and edited by Sean Baker. It follows the story of a beleaguered marriage between Brooklyn exotic dancer Anora (Mikey Madison) and Vanya Zakharov (Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of a Russian oligarch. The supporting cast includes Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, and Aleksei Serebryakov.
The film premiered on May 21, 2024, at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palme d’Or, one of the most prestigious awards in the film industry. It was later named one of the top 10 films of 2024 by both the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute. Following its critical success, ANORA was released theatrically on October 18, 2024, by Neon. The film received widespread acclaim and has grossed $25.5 million worldwide against a production budget of $6 million, making it Baker’s highest-grossing film to date.
The plot centers on Anora, a Brooklyn stripper-turned-call girl, who strikes gold with a wealthy client ” the son of a Russian oligarch ” only for the fairy tale to turn sour. This gripping storyline, combined with the film’s exceptional direction and performances, has drawn significant attention from critics and audiences alike.
The top film nominees at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards are Emilia Pérez with 10 nominations, The Brutalist with 7, Conclave with 6, ANORA with 5, and The Substance with 5. Other prominent contenders for the Golden Globes include high-profile stars such as Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande (both from Wicked), as well as Angelina Jolie, Hugh Grant, Timothée Chalamet, Sebastian Stan, Demi Moore, Pamela Anderson, Kate Winslet, and Selena Gomez. Netflix’s Emilia Pérez, a musical about a Mexican drug lord who changes gender, leads the nominations with 10, including one for Selena Gomez.
Other prominent films at the Golden Globes include The Brutalist, a heavyweight drama about a Hungarian architect who tries to build a new life in the U.S. after World War II, and Conclave, a tense political drama about a group of scheming cardinals who gather to select a new Pope.
The Golden Globe winners will be chosen by 300 international critics and announced at a ceremony in Los Angeles on January 5, 2025, followed by the Oscars on March 2, 2025. With five Golden Globe nominations, including Best Motion Picture, ANORA stands out as one of the top films of the year. Its success reflects the increasing prominence of Armenian actors like Karren Karagulian and Vache Tovmasyan in the international film industry.
