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15 Minutes with Sean Baker: The Loving Humanist Chronicler on “Red Rocket,” Losing Weight While Directing, and Equal Rights for Male Genitalia on Film
If “America is nothing if not about categories,” as social critic Hinton Als insists, then writer/director/editor Sean Baker has consistently mined those huddling under the “disenfranchised” heading. The American Dream has often slipped from his characters’ grasps, so they seek respite in some sort of bargain-basement Heaven of their own making, at times sated by drugs, sex, doughnuts, Bingo, and a good dash of whimsey.
Baker’s cri de coeur: “I’m always looking for authenticity in my films; they are based in realism.”
Not surprisingly, his movies — such as the must-see Starlet (2012), Tangerine (2015), and The Florida Project (2017), plus his latest, Red Rocket — are swathed in a gritty reality, each clearly aided by a cast of pros and non-professionals.
This formula seems to be working. According to IMDB, Baker’s output has so far earned him 46 awards and 74 nominations, and those accolades grow daily, with his latest effort even being considered for a possible Oscar nom or two. (Note: Willem Dafoe got one as Best Actor for The Florida Project.)