Watch: Sean Baker’s Rousing Oscars Speech Tribute to Movie Theaters
by Alex Billington
March 3, 2025
Source: YouTube
“Where did we fall in love with the movies? At the movie theater.” Yep! This is an important speech for movie lovers. You may have heard it already during the Academy Awards presentation, or you may have already watched the video of his speech, but we’re sharing it again (view below) – just because it deserves to be shared and heard and repeated. For 20 years, FirstShowing has been a destination operating in support of, reinforcing, encouraging, and celebrating the theatrical experience and all the magic and glory that comes with watching movies in movie theaters. It’s still as exhilarating as ever. Everything may have been disrupted during the pandemic, but movie theaters have re-opened, they’re showing great movies again all the time, and the theatrical experience is still as moving as it has always been. Anora director Sean Baker won four (!!) Academy Awards last night – during his third win, for Best Director, he took the time to give a speech about movie theaters and why they still matter. It is a rousing, uplifting, vital speech and one of my favorite speeches of the night (along with Kieran, No Other Land, Brody, Flow). Bravo for saying all of this.
Every last word of this speech is important and powerful. “Watching a film in a theater with an audience is an experience. We can laugh together, cry together, scream in fright together, perhaps sit in devastated silence together. And in a time in which the world can feel very divided, this is more important than ever. It’s a communal experience you simply don’t get at home.” Yep. All of this. Preach, Sean! “This is my battle cry! Filmmakers – keep making films for the big screen. I know I will. Distributors – please focus first & foremost on the theatrical releases of your films… Neon did that for me, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Parents, introduce your children to feature films in movie theaters, and you’ll be molding the next generation of movie lovers and filmmakers. And for all of us, when we can, please watch movies in the theater. And let’s keep the great tradition of the movie-going experience alive and well.” I couldn’t agree more with everything in this speech. I’m getting all emotional just writing about it all over again. What a moment. What a magnificent win! For Sean Baker, for Anora, for independent films, for the great Neon, for all of cinema, and for the theatrical experience. Huzzah! Now go watch Anora if you still haven’t seen it.
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