The 25-year-old Madison beat “The Substance” actor Demi Moore, Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres, Cynthia Erivo of “Wicked” and “Emilia Perez” star Karla Sofia Gascon.

In “Anora,” Madison played an exotic dancer named Ani who gets married on a whim to Ivan, a member of a wealthy Russian family. Ivan’s family does not respond well to the marriage.

Madison grew up in the San Fernando Valley near Los Angeles. At 16, she landed a role on FX television series “Better Things.” She also had a small part in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time …in Hollywood” and starred in “Scream V.”

Her “Anora” role also earned Madison best actress honours at the Independent Spirit Awards and Britain’s Baftas.

Baker had been favoured to win the directing award, having collected top honours from the Directors Guild of America and the Producers Guild of America, and the directing award at the Film Independent Spirit Awards.

The filmmaker’s first breakout project was “Tangerine,” a comedy about a transgender sex worker in Los Angeles that was shot on an iPhone. His next film, “The Florida Project,” focused on the plight of families living in poverty near Walt Disney World and told the story of a single mother and the manager of a roadside motel who seek to protect a six-year-old girl’s innocence.

Baker’s next film, “Red Rocket,” follows a washed-up porn star to Texas. His most recent film, “Anora,” dubbed a “bawdy modern fable” by one reviewer, received a total of six nominations, including for best picture.

Also nominated in the directing category were Brady Corbet for “The Brutalist,” James Mangold for “A Complete Unknown,” Jacques Audiard for “Emilia Perez” and Coralie Fargeat for “The Substance.”