With the announcement of Oscar nominations on Monday, filmmaker Chloé Zhao became the first Chinese and the first black woman to be nominated for best director.
Zhao directed “Nomadland”, which she also adapted from Jessica Bruder’s nonfiction book of the same name. Zhao was also nominated for her script and editing. The drama is ready for the best shot.
In the film, Frances McDormand, who was nominated for best actress on Monday, stars as Fern, a widow with a strong independent tendency who takes on van life and itinerant work, meeting fellow travelers equally uprooted on the road. Praising the director in his criticism, The Times film co-critic AO Scott wrote: “’Nomadland’ is patient, compassionate and open, motivated by an impulse to wander and observe, rather than judge or explain.”
Zhao is working on his next film, Marvel’s superhero team “The Eternals”, but released a statement on Monday: “I’m so excited about our nominations! Thanks to the academy. I am grateful to have made this journey with our talented team of filmmakers and to have met so many wonderful people who generously shared their stories with us. Thank you very much to my colleagues at the academy for recognizing this film that is very close to my heart. “
Zhao, 38, grew up in Beijing and, according to a New York magazine profile, moved to Los Angeles in 2000 to attend high school. After a film school at New York University, she made her feature debut with “Songs My Brother Taught Me”, a 2016 drama set on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota that she followed in 2018 with the much-touted western “The Rider”.
In China, his achievements this season were initially celebrated. But then the nationalists found an old interview she gave criticizing China, and references to “Nomadland” (including hashtags on social media) were removed. But the film is still scheduled to be released on April 23 there.
Only five women have competed for the Oscar for best director: Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird”), Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”), Sofia Coppola (“Lost in Translation”), Jane Campion (“The Piano”) and Lina Wertmüller (“Seven Beauties”). And only Bigelow won in 2010.
Could Zhao become the second? Throughout this award season, she was the favorite, winning the Golden Globe for best director last month and the Critics Choice Award in the same category this month, as well as a series of honors from critics groups in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and other places.
Zhao is known for casting non-professional artists and drawing details of real-life characters. Adapting Bruder’s book herself, a task that included researching how itinerant Americans live, she hired some of the people portrayed in the book to play on the screen. She pushed her star, Frances McDormand, to do the jobs that her character, Fern, does, like working in a warehouse.
“It’s very interesting, the layers of it,” Zhao told Kyle Buchanan of The Times. “Fran is playing Fern, but even the name ‘Fern’ came from herself and who she thinks it could be if she hit the road.”