Ani is a young Uzbek-American stripper from Brighton Beach, a Russophone enclave in New York City. As she is somewhat conversant in Russian, her boss fixes her up with Russian-speaking clients. After meeting Vanya, the son of a Russian oligarch, a romance kindles that, in addition to his desire to avoid deportation, leads to their elopement. Their fairytale marriage is threatened when Vanya’s parents travel to New York intending to force an annulment. Anora is a 2024 American comedy-drama film written, directed and edited by Sean Baker. Mikey Madison who is in the title role as an exotic dancer delivers a superb performance. Anora premiered this year In Competition at Cannes where it won the Palme d’Or, the first American film to do so since 2011’s The Tree of Life. It earned a 10-minute standing ovation at the end of its screening and became an almost unanimous crowd pleaser. Anora, Sean Baker’s eighth feature film, shows why he is the one of the most beloved American independent filmmakers working today.