“Anora,” the Oscar-nominated film produced by Colgate University alumnus Alex Coco ’12, mixes fairytale with screwball comedy. A packed and enthralled Golden Auditorium watched a whirlwind romance turn upside down when Colgate hosted an “Anora” screening on Thursday, April 3. When the film ended, senior Bella Ohrt led a discussion with Coco, who was visiting for Arts, Creativity and Innovation Weekend.
“Anora” follows interesting and diverse characters. Ani is an Uzbek-American sex worker and exotic dancer. Her distinctive Brooklyn accent meets Ivan’s stunted Russian-English accent. Ivan is the son of a wealthy and powerful oligarch. The two characters fall head over heels and impulsively get married. Ivan’s parents work to unthread the luxurious union.
In his role, Coco demonstrated a commitment to authenticity and a skill for maximizing resources. Ohrt drew attention to how Coco balances an expansive visual style with the realities of time, budget and crew size.
“The wide anamorphic lenses, the framing and the color palette, all of it creates such a cinematic and expansive feel, even in these intimate and often chaotic spaces, which is an incredible feat given the constraints of independent filmmaking,” Ohrt said during the post-film discussion.
Coco’s team found ways to compensate for limited finances and a small team. The crew often shot in live locations to cut costs. While live scenes are vulnerable to accidents and unwanted noise, they generate authenticity.
“It’s great to shoot in a live space because you get these textures and unexpected things that can’t be written in,” Coco said. “Larger productions tend to try to shut everything down and keep everybody away, but then you’re kind of forced to recreate all that stuff.”
“Anora” embraced a cast of Russian actors. This element brought rewards and challenges to the process of film production.
“The biggest challenge was [director] Sean [Baker] wanting an international cast and true Russian actors in the film,” Coco said. “Yura [Borisov] is the Ryan Gosling of Russia. He is huge there — a megastar, and Garnik [played in the film by Vache Tovmasyan] is a really famous Armenian comedian. But getting Russians into the country was really hard. We almost had to replace those two characters because we couldn’t get their visas. But we held on literally to the last minute. We got the visas approved two days before shooting started. And then [Borisov] goes and gets nominated for an Oscar. It’s crazy.”
First-year Thomas Tanman is a Russian student and a theater employee. He appreciated the genuine Russian speech and inside jokes.
“The expressions of different Slavic cultures are really cool to see, and lots of comedy results from those cultural clashes, especially during that gut punch of realism in the second act,” Tanman said.
Ohrt enjoyed moderating the conversation, but felt some pressure exploring what became such a high profile film.
“I was assigned to moderate the Q&A before ‘Anora’ swept the Oscars, so there was definitely some pressure going into it,” Ohrt said. “But the experience was incredibly rewarding. I genuinely loved the film, and getting the chance to spend time with its producer and pick his brain was such a special opportunity.”
The Q&A concluded with a question that brought Coco back to his time at Colgate.
“Looking back, is there anything from your time here, whether in studio art, film or just campus life that stuck with you or shaped the way you approach your work in film today?” Ohrt asked.
Coco praised the liberal arts experience for encouraging unique thinking and methods.
“There is so much experimentation, love of cinema and freedom here. I was encouraged to pursue what I wanted. Nobody tried to push me into a box,” Coco said. “It’s great because I also got this education in other mediums. I love this crossover between experimenting with a visual medium and then applying it to telling a story.”
