Sean Baker’s film Anora won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival — the latest in the director’s acclaimed narratives about sex workers that include Tangerine, The Florida Project, and Red Rocket. But Anora might be his most inviting, accessible work yet.

NPR's Eric Westervelt talks to Sean Baker. The director of "The Florida Project" has a new movie about an exotic dancer's unlikely relationship with the son of a Russian oligarch. It's called "Anora."

Sean Baker's “Anora” is by wide consensus one of the year’s best films and a best picture contender at the Oscars.

That ends this weekend, when Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner Anora opens in New York and Los Angeles. To commemorate the occasion, here are 10 questions — one for each of GoldDerby’s top 10 Best Picture contenders — that remain unanswered in this “phony war” period of the 2025 Oscar season.