Coming off his Oscar triumph with “Anora,” Sean Baker is refusing major studio offers for his next film and going back to what he does best: non-professional actors, roaming cameras, and an unfiltered look at the sex community.
Last year, Baker went location scouting for this next film. No cast or plot details have been revealed about the project, but Baker had previously hinted that the story would once again focus on a sex worker.
This afternoon, while speaking at the Berlin Film Festival, Baker was asked about this next feature and gave some interesting new details about it. The film will apparently be set in Italy and is an ode to ’60s and ’70s cinema from that country (via Variety):
It’s my love letter to the Italian sex comedies of the ’60s and ’70s, so I’m leaning into that. We want to shoot this year.
The film also apparently has Italian actress Vera Gemma as part of the cast, who is best known for her performance in “Vera” and for her acclaimed turn in “Scarlet Flower,” which earned her major Italian awards attention, as well as for a long four decade career spanning Italian genre cinema.
Baker adds that he’ll be shooting this untitled film independently so that no studio interferes with his vision, but he hopes to again collaborate with “Anora” backer Neon.
A few months ago, Baker did say that this next film would “lean into comedy a little bit more,” adding, “so, it might be a little bit more of an overtly humorous movie.”
So, we might get another Baker film very soon — no doubt with Cannes 2027 potential. “Anora” was his first Oscar-winning addition to a filmography that already included acclaimed works like “Tangerine,” “The Florida Project,” and “Red Rocket.”
To say it blew the roof off the place would be an understatement. I don't think I've ever seen a Toronto audience — any festival audience — embrace a movie the way they did last night.