Superstar Distributor Neon Dazzles at the Virginia Film Festival’s Opening Night Screening of ‘Anora’
Courtesy of Neon
Wednesday, October 30, audiences at the 37th annual Virginia Film Festival were left buzzing after the Opening Night screening of Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner Anora, attended by the movie’s star Mikey Madison, and Neon CEO/founder Tom Quinn, the brilliant company behind Anora’s North American distribution.
The soldout screening of Anora at Charlottesville’s historic Paramount Theater was filled with laughter and gasps of surprise throughout the shape-shifting film’s two-hour-plus runtime. Following Madison as the titular character, an exotic dancer from Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, who thinks she has struck it big when the son of a Russian oligarch becomes her latest client, Anora works as a sex-positive comedy of errors with splashes of an Americana Cinderella story, totally unpredictable without ever letting up on the gas until its heart-wrenching final moments.
Ahead of the VAFF screening of Anora, Neon was vested the festival's inaugural Impresario Award for the company's bold vision and hefty contributions to the landscape of contemporary cinema, with Quinn on hand to accept the honor. Founded in early 2017, Neon has distributed over 100 titles from all corners of the globe, garnered over 30 Academy Award nominations, and has represented a record-holding five consecutive Cannes Palme d'Or winners each year since 2019. The company really broke onto the scene with Bong Joon Ho's Parasite, the first (and only) international title ever to win Best Picture at the Oscars. Speaking to the packed audience, Quinn reflected on Neon's overarching mission of valuing filmmakers over the bottom line of the company's projects, an increasingly difficult undertaking in a world that has come to value "content" over creativity. Quinn went on to thank many of the artists and filmmakers that have teamed with Neon over the years, including Nic Cage, Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Mohammad Rasoulof, and Céline Sciamma.
Courtesy of Neon
Following Anora, Madison received VAFF's Achievement in Acting Award for her latest knockout performance, one that has already boosted the 25-year-old actress to the top of numerous awards pundits as the fall festival circuit comes to a close. In her acceptance speech, Madison stated, "Making this film and collaborating with so many passionate creatives was reinvigorating and really reminded me what I love about filmmaking: the drive and craving to tell stories that move people, to create something meaningful and bring people together like we all are now and collectively feel the energy that is present when sitting in a theater together and experiencing a film. I loved being a part of this, and I love my film, Anora." As Anora, who prefers to go by Ani, Madison fully embodies her character's hustler attitude in a physically and emotionally blazoned role that meticulously unfolds as Anora hurtles along. In a post-screening conversation with Indiewire Awards Editor Marcus Jones, Madison spoke on the physical transformation she underwent for the role along with her experience working with Baker to bring his singular vision to the big screen.
Over the next four days of the Virginia Film Festival, Neon will continue to be celebrated, programming some of the company's other new titles that have taken the festival circuit by storm this autumn, including Presence, Men of War, The End, and The Seed of a Sacred Fig. Outside of Neon's titles this year's VAFF program boasts over 120 other works of narrative and documentary cinema that range from Virginia-based filmmakers to some of the world's most celebrated auteurs.
The 37th annual Virginia Film Festival, a program of the University of Virginia, takes place October 30 - November 3 in Downtown Charlottesville, Virginia. Click here for more information about the Virginia Film Festival.