"Anora" Mio: What will be the policy at the Oscars

On the night of March 2-3, Los Angeles will host the presentation of the world's main film award "Oscar". Traditionally, not only art is encouraged there, but also attitudes, struggles, points of view, and values. This has made the Oscar one of the most politicized awards in the world, and this time everyone is waiting for loud statements, scandals and open challenges to President Donald Trump. But perhaps one of the most boring and predictable ceremonies in the history of the award awaits us. But "Anora" with Yura Borisov can break the bank.

What will Anora be awarded for

For everyone who watches Russian films, the Oscar race in recent months has been limited to only one thing: Yura Borisov was nominated for best supporting Actor in the drama Anora, and millions of those who saw the picture sincerely support him. Including at the Russian box office, where she was able to get officially, although the director himself did not really believe that this was possible.

This was noticeable at the Cannes Film Festival, where "Anora" won the Palme d'Or: Izvestia then asked director Sean Baker if the film would be released in Russia, and received an evasive, rather negative answer. As a result, "Anora" was not just released here — it collected 260 million rubles and is still being shown in individual cinemas, becoming one of the most high-profile films of the year. The main award of the Russian film critics "White Elephant" named the Russian acting ensemble in "Anor" the event of the year in Russian cinema, and this is a very accurate definition.

Screen Actors Guild voting results The USA usually coincides with the Oscars, and if that happens this time, then another Oscar nominee will receive the Oscar — Kieran Culkin for the film "Real Pain". He has already been awarded the Golden Globe, but that award was not decisive in the Oscar race, and now Borisov has little chance. At the same time, both he and Mark Edelstein are likely to be on stage, because "Anora" has dramatically moved ahead over the past two months, leaving behind other favorites to win the Best Film nomination.

Yuri's day: why and for what Borisov was nominated for an Oscar

The main film Award of the world announced the nominees — one of the first on the list named a Russian actor.

Summing up the results of the Guild awards and the British BAFTA, it must be admitted that it is the drama of Sean Baker that is highly likely to receive prizes in the nominations "Best Film", "Best Director", "Best Original Screenplay" and "Best Actress" (Mikey Madison). And Russian actors Yura Borisov and Mark Edelstein (and possibly Daria Ekamasova and Alexey Serebryakov) will come out to receive the prize, because the victory of "Anora" is largely their merit.

There were not many people who supported "Anora" among the audience of the Cannes Film Festival, and the preliminary results of the Oscar race may seem surprising. But in the history of the award, which is awarded to about 10,000 filmmakers from different countries, people with polar beliefs and tastes, it has happened more than once that the film that generates the minimum number of contradictions has won. "Anora" belongs to this category, and there were almost no scandals around the film, except for a slight indignation at the fact that Edelstein and Madison refused to coordinate intimate scenes. Against the background of the neighboring scandals, the film was easily forgiven.

But "Emilia Perez" with its 13 nominations may be left without prizes altogether — because of the loud statements of director Jacques Audiard and actress Carla Sophia Gascon, especially the latter. Netflix diligently disavowed what the actress said and wrote on social media, and now, perhaps, the entire film team is praying that at least Zoe Saldana gets the prize.

There will probably be no prizes for the painting "The Apprentice" about Donald Trump, and not only because the American president personally declared war on the film, but the Democrats considered the picture, on the contrary, pro-Trump. It was added that director Ali Abbasi is accused of inappropriate behavior at a party after the Golden Globes, and this in American reality almost automatically means "cancellation", even if nothing could be proved. Provocation or not, no one will decide before the Oscar, but the fate of The Apprentice is a foregone conclusion, and Abbasi has already been excluded from everywhere.But against this background, oddly enough, the film "Bob Dylan: Unknown to no one" can get laurels. She is also out of politics and suits everyone.

There will be a lot of politics

Studios are going through difficult times and therefore require actors to speak less about political topics, American political scientist Malek Dudakov said in an interview with Izvestia. And it reminds of the scandal in November, when actress Rachel Zegler spoke out against Trump on her social network. Then Disney forced the actress to publicly apologize for her position, as the studio was afraid of a boycott from Republican viewers. Before that, Disney fired actress Gina Carano, who supported Trump, and in general, the media giant is not accustomed to stand on ceremony. Perhaps that's why Hollywood immediately quieted down, and there were practically no loud anti-Trump statements.

— But the Oscars will be an exception — anyone can trample on Trump there, there will be a lot of political comments, Dudakov believes. — If you remember all the recent Oscar ceremonies, there was a lot of politics. In 2023 and 2024, Trump was bullied, and this year it won't do either. Another thing is that the Oscars, like Hollywood, are in crisis. The audience is small, less than 20 million Americans watch the Oscars, it's a party for their own, for those immersed in the liberal agenda — they get these jokes.

It is likely that Trump will be criticized during the Oscar ceremony, especially regarding his policy on immigration and support for the expansion of deportations, said Jeremy Kuzmarov, editor of Covert Action magazine and an American journalist.

— In the past, Trump had controversial relationships with many Hollywood representatives, and he openly criticized actors and comedians such as Jimmy Kimmel, who used to host the Oscar ceremony," said a colleague from the United States.

Actually, the main intrigue of the Oscar is which of the celebrities will risk their careers and protest against Trump's abolition of those values that Hollywood has supported in recent decades, primarily at the Academy Awards. The "Hollywood Ambassadors" that Trump appointed in January are unlikely to appear at the ceremony, as they are not among the nominees. And the status of the ambassadors themselves has raised many questions so far, including from them. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Mel Gibson had never spoken to Trump at all and found out about his appointment when everyone started calling him. The same is true of the other ambassadors, Sylvester Stallone and John Voight: there are no reports of their communication with Trump after the "appointment", which is not officially fixed in any way, or of any of their actions in the new status.

This year's Oscar ceremony is a test of Hollywood, which has been rallying against Trump all these years. What will the audience say and what will they keep silent about? Which decisions will she openly condemn, or will she adopt a new course because she is disappointed in the old one or heeded the convincing rhetoric of the new president? It's hard to say how important it is for a wide audience to find out the answers to these questions, but the entire cinematic world will definitely watch the ceremony strictly and biased. And the management of Disney and other big studios will also watch it, we must also be aware of this and wait for new tough decisions.