With her film Nomadland (in Italian cinemas from 29 April) Chloé Zhao is the first Asian woman to win an Oscar and a Golden Globe for directing. But that's not the only reason we'll be hearing more from her.
Last updated 26 April 2021
If any further confirmation were still needed, the latest Oscars have provided it. Chloé Zhao is one of the most acclaimed and talented directors on the international cinema scene. Following her double success at the Golden Globes (best director and best drama film), the director of Nomadland has made history with a triumphant sweep in the best director and best picture categories at the 93rd Academy Awards.
These wins add new records to her young career: at the Oscars, Chloé Zhao became the first Asian director to receive a nomination in the best director category and only the second woman ever to win it, after Kathryn Bigelow, who was awarded the prize in 2010 for The Hurt Locker. It was a milestone she had already reached at the Golden Globes, where before her only Barbra Streisand had won (in 1984 for Yentl), nearly forty years ago.
These achievements add to other important records in the fight for gender equality: for the first time in Oscar history there were two women nominated for best director (alongside Zhao, Emerald Fennell as well), just as at the Golden Globes the best director category saw three women nominated for the first time. Joining the director of Nomadland and Fennell (nominated for Promising Young Woman) was Regina King, nominated for One Night in Miami…. A very significant sign for an industry in which the gender gap remains extremely wide.
Born and raised in Beijing, Chloé Zhao (born 1982) also lived in Brighton, England, before moving to the United States, where she first studied political science and then film production at New York University. Her real name is Zhao Ting, and she now lives in California, where her story and her identity make her a symbol of the inclusivity that Hollywood is increasingly seeking.
Nomadland is her third film, following two independent works with which she has made a name for herself in recent years on the festival circuit and among industry insiders. Her first feature as screenwriter, director and producer is Songs My Brothers Taught Me, presented at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015, set on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and centring on two Sioux siblings.
Zhao's second film is The Rider, a modern western starring a real cowboy, which won the Art Cinema Award at the Directors' Fortnight (Quinzaine des réalisateurs) at the Cannes film festival.
Nomadland shares many traits with these titles: from the social realism with which the camera uncovers hidden characters, unknown realities and alternative lifestyles, to the evocative, twilit landscapes that become the backdrop for personal stories and bonds of kinship. All told from a poetic and deeply personal perspective.
An approach that has not only won the admiration of a veteran such as Frances McDormand, but has even persuaded a giant like Marvel Studios to entrust Chloé Zhao with the direction of their highly anticipated new cinecomic The Eternals. The blockbuster, for which the director has admitted she was given considerable creative freedom, boasts a stellar cast (from Richard Madden to Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek) and is set for release on 5 November 2021 in the US. A decisive genre shift from the director's debut films — one that, according to early word from those who have seen it, has already generated enthusiasm among the producers, further stoking the curiosity of fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Nomadland, meanwhile, will arrive in Italian cinemas on 29 April and on Star within Disney+ on 30 April.
In her acceptance speeches Chloé Zhao has always shared messages of profound humanity, speaking of compassion and kindness of spirit. True breaths of fresh air in these difficult times, overshadowed by the pandemic and torn apart by hatred and division.
Upon receiving the Golden Globe, connected by livestream like all the nominees, the director thanked the film's team, her family and the entire nomadic community she had worked with, quoting the words of one of them: "Compassion is what breaks down the barriers between us. A bond from heart to heart. Your pain is my pain." A reflection with which she sought to explain her love of cinema.
This is why I love making films and telling stories. Because it gives us the chance to laugh and cry together. And it gives us the opportunity to learn from one another and to have more compassion for one another.
Chloé Zhao, director of Nomadland
Upon receiving the Oscar, the director of Nomadland dedicated her win to "anyone who has the faith and the courage to hold on to the goodness in themselves and in each other, no matter how hard it is to do." A message of trust and hope in one's fellow human beings, at a historical moment of profound division and distance.
Inspired by the book by Jessica Bruder, Nomadland. Un racconto d'inchiesta (Edizioni Clichy), the film follows Fern (Frances McDormand, awarded the Oscar for best actress), a sixty-one-year-old woman who has lost her husband and everything she had during the Great Recession, the global economic crisis that unfolded between 2007 and 2013 and erupted in the United States. Following the economic collapse of Empire, the Nevada mining town where she lives, Fern decides to head west in a van, which becomes her home.
Empire was a company town that for years was home to generations of gypsum miners before being wiped off the map by the Great Recession, during which everyone was evicted. Even the zip code was deleted.
Jessica Bruder, author of Nomadland. Un racconto d'inchiesta
The journey becomes for Fern an exploration of new places and a discovery of an unknown dimension, far removed from conventional society. Through her encounter with the nomadic community and her friendship with Dave (David Strathairn), the woman finds a new independence "in nature, in the wilderness, in the rocks, in the trees, in the stars, in a hurricane", as the director explains.
"In the role of Fern, I worked alongside real employees at an Amazon distribution centre, on a sugar beet farm, in the café of a tourist attraction and as a camp host in a National Park," recounts McDormand. "In most cases, no one recognised me and everyone thought I was just another employee. Obviously, I didn't work the full hours these jobs require. But we tried to convey the impression of real work and its consequences: the physical challenges and discomfort experienced by an older person, but also the joy of working and living in the midst of nature as a camp host in a national park, the sense of purpose and the take-home pay that comes with these jobs."
Accompanying the protagonist and the viewer on a journey of discovery through the vast landscape of the American West, from the Badlands of South Dakota to the Nevada desert and on to the Pacific coast, are Linda May, Swankie and Bob Wells, mentors and companions chosen by Zhao from among real American nomads.
Chloé Zhao's success at the 2021 Oscars came after a long string of prestigious awards and unanimous recognition from international critics. From the prizes received at the Golden Globes, the Toronto Film Festival and the Venice Golden Lion to the hundreds of awards it has received, the triumph of this road movie set in the world of modern American nomads has never let up. Credit is also due to Frances McDormand, the film's lead actress and producer, who personally approached Zhao after seeing her second film The Rider (distributed in Italy by Wanted Cinema), calling it "one of the best things I've seen in a long time." From there came the decision to offer her the direction of a film inspired by Bruder's book, the rights to which McDormand had optioned together with producer Peter Spears.
After the critical acclaim and the extraordinary success of Nomadland, one can only acknowledge the merit of McDormand's instinct — she, in addition to sharing with Zhao the award for best picture (presented to all producers), also took home her third acting Oscar (following those for Fargo and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri). A success that today can only be described as, to say the least, exceptional.
