Smaller movies didn’t mean smaller viewer numbers for the Oscars. An estimated 19.7 viewers watched Sunday night’s 97th Academy Awards ceremony, the biggest audience in five years.

Filmmaker Sean Baker won the Academy Award for best director for "Anora," a film about an exotic dancer and sex worker who has the chance of a Cinderella story when she marries the son of a Russian oligarch.

The director of the best picture winner, “Anora,” urged viewers to keep seeing films in theaters. Our critic hopes the industry listens, and that Baker keeps his independence.