February 9 - February 11, 2025

Sean Baker: An American Cinematheque Retrospective

Series | THE FLORIDA PROJECT, ANORA, TANGERINE, STARLET

ABOUT THE SERIES:

The American Cinematheque is delighted to welcome back one of the most fearless voices of contemporary American independent cinema for an in-person retrospective that centers around his Palme d’Or winning anti-Cinderella story, ANORA. Sean Baker’s deeply compassionate portraits of underrepresented communities, including sex workers and undocumented immigrants, examine the complex humanity of those pushed to the margins of capitalist society. By reinterpreting the aesthetics and techniques of Italian neorealism and the Dogme 95 movement, Baker illuminates the nuances of the human condition utilizing an intuitive vérité form of filmmaking that demonstrates his place in the modern independent film sphere as an unconventional auteur with an uncompromising vision.

Throughout his innovative oeuvre, the humanist filmmaker has deconstructed the way that the pursuit of the American Dream shapes the lived experiences of those on the economic fringes. One element that persists amid Baker’s creative output has been the aim to destigmatize sex work. Baker’s naturalistic lens follows an adult film actress in STARLET, who begins an unlikely friendship with an elderly widow. The film offers an authentic view into the life of a young woman whose occupation in the pornographic industry does not define her or corrupt her tender nature. The auteur’s ingenuity is especially evident with the making of TANGERINE, which was filmed on an iPhone 5s and cast primarily through social media. Its two main actresses were street-cast off the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and Highland Avenue, lending the story about trans sex workers of color an aura of authenticity. Baker’s next feature, the candy-colored THE FLORIDA PROJECT, highlights the summertime escapades of six-year-old Moonee, whose single mother struggles to make ends meet via sex work while living in a budget motel in close proximity to Disney World. It poignantly confronts the juxtaposition between impoverishment and excessive consumerist opulence in the form of a coming of age slice of life that is as uplifting as it is heart wrenching. The critically acclaimed gritty fairytale ANORA, about a New York erotic dancer whose life is sent into a tailspin by the son of a Russian oligarch, continues Baker’s insightful exploration of a woman in a profession that is regularly dehumanized. As with his previous films, the filmmaker provocateur employs a sharp wit and touch of humor to underscore the absurdity of the situation, while affording the titular character a sense of agency that depictions of sex workers do not typically receive.

Read More about NIGHTS OF CABIRIA in 35mm
SUN FEB 9, 2025

1:00 PM

NIGHTS OF CABIRIA in 35mm

$10.00 (member) ; $15.00 (general admission)

Ticket prices include a $2.00 online booking fee.

Los Feliz 3 | ‘Sean Baker: An American Cinematheque Retrospective’ and ‘Sunday Print Edition’

Read More about THE FLORIDA PROJECT
SUN FEB 9, 2025

4:00 PM

THE FLORIDA PROJECT

Free

Los Feliz 3 | ‘Sean Baker: An American Cinematheque Retrospective’

 

Read More about ANORA / TANGERINE
SUN FEB 9, 2025

7:00 PM

ANORA / TANGERINE

Free (members-only)

Los Feliz 3 | Q&A with filmmaker Sean Baker

Sean Baker: An American Cinematheque Retrospective’

 

Read More about ANORA / STARLET
TUE FEB 11, 2025

7:30 PM

ANORA / STARLET

Free (members-only)

Aero Theatre | Q&A with filmmaker Sean Baker. Moderated by Jim Hemphill. 

‘Sean Baker: An American Cinematheque Retrospective’