The director of the best picture winner, “Anora,” urged viewers to keep seeing films in theaters. Our critic hopes the industry listens, and that Baker keeps his independence.

Sean Baker, the now-four time Oscar-winning filmmaker behind best picture champion “Anora,” didn’t let the moment go to waste when he accepted the trophy for directing, his third of the night.

Filmmaker Sean Baker won the Academy Award for best director for "Anora," a film about an exotic dancer and sex worker who has the chance of a Cinderella story when she marries the son of a Russian oligarch.