Our creative director Fatima Khan reports on this year’s edition of the Academy Awards and our Editor-in-Chief’s Charles Finch pre-Oscar party hosted with CHANEL
She did it. Anora made Oscars history, taking away 5 awards, including a world-record breaking 4 awards for its director Sean Baker. And it’s 25 year-old star Mikey Madison took home Best Actress.
Nearly 10 months ago, A Rabbit’s Foot first encountered Anora when it premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Before it claimed the Palme d’Or—Cannes’ highest honor—my colleagues Luke Georgiades and Kitty Grady were already captivated by Baker’s daring decision to open with a Take That song, complemented by one of the most moving conclusions in modern cinema. We knew immediately that this film deserved to be on the cover of our independent magazine, which it did in Issue 9. It also marked our very first filmed cover—a project we hold dear. The shoot, executed in the sweltering August heat of a Los Angeles photography studio downtown, drew inspiration from the iconic imagery of Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg, brought to life with the talents of Max Montgomery and Matilda Montgomery. Now, as I’m back in LA to celebrate this film’s monumental success, it feels like a true full-circle moment. Anora was made on a $6 million budget, proving that it’s not the scale of the production that matters, but the artistry of the filmmaking. In his acceptance speech, Sean eloquently reminded us of the enduring magic of cinema, saying, “Where did we fall in love with the movies? At the movie theater.”
I am writing this on Monday morning from the sun-dappled gardens of the Beverly Hills Hotel—there is a quiet feeling in the air at 9am as if the whole city is nursing a collective hangover. Here on Saturday night, our Editor-in-Chief Charles Finch hosted his annual pre-Oscar party at the Polo Lounge in the BHH. He has been doing this for a while, even though he has lost count of the number of times: “20th or 30th or maybe even 40th,” he responds, when I ask him to specify.
He originally started the party—now hosted with CHANEL—to welcome filmmakers from around the world when he himself was a young Brit in Hollywood and striving to create a new community. He wrote about it for us last year—if you want to know more. With guests greeted by Mariachi music, this year in attendance were many of the Academy Nominees as well as other filmmakers and actors and it was amazing to see so many luminaries gathered in one room—Brady Corbet of The Brutalist, Felicity Jones, Adrien Brody, Edward Berger, Coralie Fargeat, Demi Moore, Ralph Fiennes, Fernanda Torres, Denis Villeneuve, Sing Sing’s Colman Domingo, Lily-Rose Depp, Ava DuVernay, Elle and Dakota Fanning, Sebastian Stan and Annabel Wallace, Julie Delpy, Penelope Cruz and Al Pacino—to name more than a few. Kim Kardashian made an appearance—with a miniature CHANEL bag which she made entirely her own.
Many of Charles’s old friends were also there such as Harvey Keitel and Willem Dafoe. Our Issue 8 cover star and photographer Nadia Lee Cohen was also in attendance. I was sat with friends and collaborators on our previous two issues—the photographer and videography Max Montgomery and Matilda Montgomery who shot Sean Baker and Mikey Madison, as well as our latest cover with the playwright, director and actor Jeremy O Harris. Max—took candid snaps from the night on his Contax which he was clever enough to bring along (see the top carousel for the full edit of his images).
“Long live independent film!” Charles declared in his speech introducing the evening sentiment that echoed throughout the evening, into the Oscars ceremony the following night and hopefully well beyond.
