the future of flimmaking

Writers strike win leaves plenty to talk about, says Austin Film Fest director

The WGA strike is over, but the SAG-AFTRA strike and negotiations rage on.

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The Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike is officially over, but there's still more work to be done to make sure writers, producers, and actors are on the same page with the rest of the entertainment industry. After a five-month strike by WGA members, a new three-year contract was approved between the union and major Hollywood studios on October 9.

The 30th annual Austin Film Festival (AFF) and Writers Conference this October are two of the area's biggest cultural events that bring together local filmmakers, writers, producers, and actors alike. Although productions happening in Austin lately have likely been by independent studios — exempting them from strike orders — there was still much uncertainty leading up to the strike ratification on May 2, according to Austin Film Festival director Barbara Morgan.

"Almost everybody coming here [to the festival and conference] is a writer, so for us, we had a lot of people locked and confirmed who were coming to talk," Morgan says. "And no matter what, [the conference] was always going to be a great place for people to come and have a conversation about what [the strike] means for the future."

AFF is no stranger to the topic of union strikes, Morgan shares, as the last WGA strike in 2007-2008 happened a week after the festival ended. She recalled the growing solidarity and camaraderie between writers at the conference, who were preparing for their final attempts to come to an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) before the strike.

"There was a lot of conversation here about [the strike], and a lot of people who really didn't know each other from the Writers Guild who were all of a sudden on panels with each other. [The conference] really became this place where people were having the conversations here before going back [to Los Angeles or New York to] argue for [a better contract]," Morgan adds.

Morgan predicts this year's writers conference might have a similar underlying focus on the state of the entertainment industry.

"I think there's going to be a lot of freewheeling conversation about what [the WGA] won and maybe even what they lost or didn't get, and how things are going to move forward," she says.

Even with the recent approval of a new three-year labor contract between WGA members and the AMPTP, not everything has been resolved. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strike is still ongoing, with the most recent negotiations breaking down again as of October 12.

Former Austinite Alex Johnson, a writer and WGA East member, shared his thoughts about the ongoing strike in an email to CultureMap. He was a strike captain during the recent WGA strike, and is currently picketing alongside SAG-AFTRA members in New York.

"Unfortunately, it looks like the AMPTP is pulling the same trick on SAG-AFTRA that they pulled on the WGA in August — leaking their latest offer and then shutting down talks in an attempt to create dissent among the members of SAG-AFTRA," he wrote. "It didn’t work when they pulled that on the WGA and it won’t work on SAG-AFTRA. All the studios did by doing this is delay when work can start and double down on hurting the film industry and its employees."

The financial and emotional toll on striking writers, filmmakers, and actors has been difficult, Johnson says, but he perseveres for his fellow union members so all of their voices are heard at the negotiation table.

"We’re fighting to guarantee that writing and acting are viable careers — if they’re not something that folks can do and earn a livable wage, then the industry will collapse," he wrote. "Actors and writers have essentially been fighting to protect the industry from itself."

Johnson maintains that even with the new WGA agreement, the entertainment industry will not resume normalcy until SAG-AFTRA also has a fair contract.

"SAG-AFTRA were there for the WGA on day one of our strike, and they never faltered," he says. "They had our back and now we have theirs. Some of us might be writing, but we’re all still finding time to march with our sibling union until their deal comes through. Solidarity means solidarity."

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Movie Review

Bold drama Anora finds the limits of a dancer's girlfriend experience

Photo courtesy of Neon

Mikey Madison in Anora.

Writer/director Sean Baker’s filmography is full of films that aim to show stories not typically seen in mainstream movies, ones that often feel so true to life that they can be tough to watch. His latest film, Anora, is similar to his previous content in some ways, but much different in others.

Anora (Mikey Madison), aka Ani, is a stripper/sex worker who works at a club in Brooklyn. Because she can speak Russian, she is assigned to dance for Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), who she discovers is the son of a Russian oligarch. With an unlimited supply of money, he pays Ani for sex and, enjoying spending time with her, for her to pretend to be his girlfriend for a week.

That week sees them do a lot of wild stuff, most notably an impulsive trip to Las Vegas where they — almost as hastily — decide to get married. Their elopement doesn’t stay secret for long, though, with Ivan’s parents especially upset. A trio of henchmen track them down, enlisted by Ivan’s parents to force them to get the marriage annulled at all costs.

Baker is not your typical storyteller, and so even though the film has three distinct acts, they don’t play out in ways that will be familiar or comfortable for many filmgoers. Much of the first act involves Ani in states of undress, either dancing for customers or having sex with Ivan. Although the “rich guy paying for the company of a sex worker” echoes a film like Pretty Woman, the comparison doesn’t really fit, especially because the immature, video game-playing Ivan is about as far from romance as you can get.

Whatever appeal he might have had disappears in the second half of the film when he’s confronted with his parents’ displeasure. It’s here that Baker seems to play with moviegoer expectations the most. With three goons sent to get Ani and Ivan to take back what they’ve done, it feels like Baker is going to go down the typical mob movie road. Instead, what transpires can only be described as an intense farce, with Ani resisting the trio’s efforts with all her might, causing lots of comedic chaos.

What plays out throughout the film, and especially in the final act, is a disparity of wealth. While Ani being willing to have sex with a rich guy who comes into the club could be viewed in multiple ways, it does hint at her need to make money however she can. Conversely, Ivan spends money with abandon and acts accordingly, like someone who will never have a care in the world. After much frivolity, this imbalance hits like a ton of bricks in the film’s final minutes.

Madison, who’s had small but showy roles in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and the reboot of Scream, proves herself to be a star in this role. She owns every part of the performance, from the New York accent to the pole dancing, and she is the fire that keeps the film humming. She is especially important because Russian actor Eydelshteyn is only intermittently effective. Special note goes to Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, and Yura Borisov, the three men who come for Ani and Ivan. Each walks the line between drama and comedy especially well.

Taken at face value, Anora could be viewed as a merely titillating and somewhat shallow film. But Baker doesn’t do anything without a purpose, which is why the subtext of the story gives the film its power, with a bravura performance by Madison to put it over the top.

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Anora is now playing in theaters.

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