2. Sean Baker
Key Films: Take-Out, The Prince of Broadway, Starlet If you told me that the person who created Greg the Bunny also created the compassionate, human think pieces such as Take-Out and Starlet, I would not believe you. Sean Baker is a filmmaker that fits into the same category of Ramin Bahrani. He also makes films about people we would not normally think of as protagonists of a film. Take-Out is about a Chinese Immigrant, delivery person who needed money to pay off debts. The Prince of Broadway is about one of those conmen who sell knockoff bags on the streets of New York and Starlet is an empathetic approach to the life of a lonely porn star. In fact his career and the type of films he makes follow a very similar trajectory to that of Ramin Bahrani. These two filmmakers are modern American neo-realists whose settings and real to life characters is the main key to their films. He like early Di Sica, depicts his characters without much music and in their natural setting, allowing the action to flow naturally. The reason I like Baker more than Bahrani is that there is a guerilla feel to his films that makes his films more gritty and grimy. Starlet was perhaps my favorite film of 2012 in the way it was able to realistically depict the life of a porn star earnestly, without any hint of irony. He treats all his subjects like they were real people which seem to be the central thesis of all his films. People whom we always pass by have a story of their own and he uses his handheld camera in this digital age to showcase them. Baker like a lot of indie filmmakers that is appreciated today is another humanist. He allows his characters to roam around their environment and all he is, is a voyeur in this world with his camera. This is a filmmaker with a lot to say that is sorely underappreciated all around.