When did Walt Disney win four Oscars in one night? ‘Anora’ director Sean Baker ties the late producer’s record at the 97th Academy Awards

Director Sean Baker became the first person to win four awards on the same night for the same film, Anora, at the 97th Academy Awards on March 2. Baker served as Anora's editor, director, and screenplay writer.

Baker thanked the Academy for honoring an independent film as he accepted the Best Director prize for Anora. He said:

“We’re all here tonight and watching this broadcast because we love movies. Where did we fall in love with the movies? At the movie theater.”

During his acceptance speech, Sean Baker further said:

“This is my battle cry: Filmmakers, keep making films for the big screen. I know I will..”

Like Baker, Walt Disney is the only individual to have won four Oscars in a single night. In 1953, Disney took home four awards for his four films, The Living Desert, The Alaskan Eskimo, Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, and Bear Country.

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Sean Baker became second director after Walt Disney to take home 4 Oscars in one night

Madison also won Best Actress for Sean Baker's Anora (Image via Getty)

Parts of Sean Baker's 2016 breakthrough film, The Florida Project, were secretly filmed inside the heavily guarded grounds of Disney World. Now, after nine years, he has joined Walt Disney in holding the record for the most Academy Awards won in a single night, with four victories at the Oscars in 2025.

On Sunday night, Sean Baker's Anora took home the awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. He is the first editor to win the awards for a single film and the third director overall. In addition to these awards, Mikey Madison won the award for Best Actress for portraying Ani in Anora.

By contrast, Disney won four awards in 1954. Bear Country won Best Short Subject – Two-Reel, Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom won Best Short Subject – Cartoon, The Living Desert won Best Documentary Feature, and The Alaskan Eskimo received Best Documentary – Short Subject.

That year, Disney also received nominations for Rugged Bear and Ben and Me. However, Walt Disney won four Oscars for different films, whereas Sean Baker earned all of his for a single film.

Additionally, Bong Joon-ho accepted four Oscars in 2020 for Parasite, which won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature. However, in this case, the international prize is attributed to the country, South Korea, rather than the filmmaker himself.

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More about Anora

Anora is Sean Bake's eighth film. The only other Baker film to receive an Oscar nomination was his 2017 film, The Florida Project, which takes place just outside of Disney World in Orlando. It was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

Anora centers around Mikey Madison, who plays Anora Mikheeva, an adult dancer who marries Ivan, the son of a Russian tycoon, portrayed by Mark Eydelshteyn. Ani and his handler Toros, played by Karren Karagulian, look for Ivan in the entire New York after he suddenly disappears.

The movie won the Palme d'Or at the 77th Cannes Film Festival and received critical acclaim when it premiered on May 21, 2024. Neon released the film in theaters on October 18, 2024. As per Vogue's March 3 report, despite a $6 million budget, the movie grossed $41 million worldwide, making it Baker's highest-grossing film.

The American Film Institute and the National Board of Review ranked Anora among the top 10 movies of 2024. It also won the award for Best Casting, and Madison earned the Best Actress award at the British Academy Film Awards.