The Palme d’Or goes to American Sean Baker for “Anora.”

Filmmaker Sean Baker won the award on Saturday at age 53 for “Anora,” a New York thriller that moves from the slums to the luxury villas of Russian oligarchs and heralds a revival of American independent cinema.

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“This film is wonderful, full of humanity (…) It broke our hearts,” announced the head of the jury and “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig before presenting her with the prize.

In his speech, Shawn Baker made a plea to movie theaters: “The world needs to remember that watching movies on your cell phone or at home is not the way to watch movies.” “In the room we share sadness, fear, and laughter,” he emphasized.

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A film that never hits the brake pedal, “Anora” begins like a fairy tale, a 2024 version of Cinderella that turns into a drama before transitioning into overtly comedic scenes.

Anora (Mikey Madison) is a support girl at a seedy club. One drunken evening, Vanya (Mark Eidelstein), the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch, knocks on the door of the establishment. She knows Russian: the grandmother, who immigrated to America, never learned English. We hand him over to the client. She takes his number. They see each other again.

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Anora finds money and doesn’t know what to do with it, leading a life of celebration and recklessness. Vanya’s parents stayed in Russia on business, trusting the priest at the local Orthodox church to watch over him. But when Anora and Vanya’s affair seems serious, things go off the rails.

Mafioso, trips to the Russian-speaking community of Coney Island, night races in New York, Robert De Niro’s foul-mouthed sidekick, the 2-hour 18 film effectively revisits the classics of American cinema and portrays the other side of the American dream. .

But surprises by taking an unexpected path and encouraging its heroine Anora. From cultists to petty bandits to the super rich, everyone gets their due.

After “Tangerine” and The Florida Project, Sean Baker confirms that he is a lover of marginalized characters overflowing with humanity.