Filmmaker Chloe Zhao has scripted history at the 93rd Academy Awards by becoming the first woman of colour and only the second woman in the Oscars' history to win best director trophy for Nomadland. Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman to win best director in 2009 for her film The Hurt Locker.
"My entire Nomadland company, what a crazy, what a once-in-a-lifetime journey we all had together. Thank you so much, I am so grateful to you," Zhao said in her acceptance speech on Sunday night.
The 39-year-old director, who moved to the US when she was a teenager, said she has been thinking a lot lately of how to keep going when things go hard. "I think it goes back to something I learned when I was a kid. When I was growing up in China, my dad and I used to play this game. We would memorise classic Chinese poems and texts and we would recite it together and try to finish each other's sentences. And there's one I remember so dearly it's called 'The Three Character Classics'," she recalled
Speaking in her native language, Zhao, translated the sentence, which means, 'People at birth are inherently good'. "And those six letters had such a great impact on me when I was a kid. I still truly believe them today. Even though sometimes it may seem like the opposite is true, I have always found goodness in the people I met everywhere I went in the world," she said.
It is only the third film for Zhao, 39. She was a clear favourite in the category, which has nominees such as Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman, Lee Isaac Chung for Minari, Thomas Vinterberg for Another Round, and David Fincher for Mank.
Based on Jessica Bruder's book of the same name, Nomadland stars Frances McDormand as Fern, a woman who, after the economic collapse of her company town in rural Nevada, packs her van and sets off on the road to explore a life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad.
Pro-Trump film wins Razzies
The election-fraud film Absolute Proof, singer Sia's heavily panned directorial debut Music and Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor, were the top winners at the 2021 Razzie Awards, given to the worst movies and performances of the year. The Golden Raspberry Awards, popularly known as the Razzies, were held a day before the Oscars night, as is the tradition. Absolute Proof, directed by My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, which claimed that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, was named the worst picture at the ceremony. The pro-Donald Trump film also bagged the worst acting title for Lindell for his appearance in the film as himself.
Sia's Music, which was heavily criticized for its depiction of autism, took home three awards, including worst director, worst actress for Kate Hudson, and worst supporting actress for Maddie Ziegler.