New Delhi, March 5 -- During his Oscar acceptance speech for Anora's screenplay on Sunday night, Sean Baker said, "I want to thank the sex worker community. They have shared their stories. They have shared life experiences with me over the years. My deepest respect. Thank you! I share this with you."

The speech was in line with what Baker said last year, when Anora won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and he dedicated the film "to sex workers past, present and future". During recent interviews, both Baker and his wife Samantha Quan (co-producer on most of his films, including Anora) have repeatedly spoken about the de-stigmatization of sex work, legal protections and so on. Anora is a comedy-drama about Anora, or Ani (Mikey Madison), a stripper ...