Anora Wins 5 Oscars, Starring Controversial Russian Actor Yuri Borisov

The film Anora, which won five awards at the 2025 Oscars, stars Russian actor Yuri Borisov, who also plays in Kremlin propaganda films and has visited occupied Crimea.

According to Dzerkalo Tyzhnia, the film won five awards, including the prestigious Best Picture category. It shows the relationship between a sex worker and the son of a Russian oligarch.

"On the night of March 3, the 97th Academy Awards took place in Los Angeles, one of the most important events in the world of the film industry. The American Film Academy announced the winners in all nominations live. The main winner of the evening was the American comedy drama Anora directed by Sean Baker. The film stars Russian actor Yuri Borisov," the media report said.

Yuri Borisov. Photo: Getty Images

Last year, the jury awarded the Oscar in the Best Documentary Feature category to the film Navalny, about Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. At the same time, the Ukrainian film House of Splinters, about children from an orphanage in Donbas, which also competed for an award in this category, did not receive an award.

At the same time, at the BAFTA International Film Festival, the award went to the film Rock, Paper, Scissors, about the war in Ukraine, which was based on real events. The story centers on 18-year-old Ivan, whose father, a surgeon, has been operating on the wounded since the first days of the war. In order to protect his family and the wounded, Ivan takes up arms when the Russian occupiers find out about the shelter. The main role in the film was played by Oleksandr Rudynskyi, an actor from Mykolaiv. During the award ceremony, he dedicated the award to his friend who died in the war five days before the start of filming.

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