Chloé Zhao Breaks New Ground With Best Director Oscar For “Nomadland”

Chloé Zhao’s Oscar for Best Director broke new ground in Hollywood as she became the first woman of colour and only the second woman ever to win in the category.

Her film, Nomadland, was one of the big winners at the 2021 Academy Awards, taking home 3 major prizes including Best Actress for the brilliant Frances McDormand.

The Chinese-born Zhao is the first woman to take home Best Director since Kathryn Bigelow 11 years ago for The Hurt Locker. The British-educated, US-based filmmaker’s third film Nomadland follows a woman who embarks on a journey through the American West after losing everything during the recession.

Zhao, who becomes the first woman of colour to win Best Director said, “I’ve been thinking a lot lately of how I keep going when things get 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 them together and try to finish each other’s sentences.

“There’s one that I remember so dearly, it’s called the Three Character Classics. The first phrase goes… ‘People at birth are inherently good.’ Those six letters had such a great impact on me when I was a kid, and I still truly believe them today.

“Even though sometimes it might seem like the opposite is true, I have always found goodness in the people I met, everywhere I went in the world.

“So this is for anyone who had the faith, and the courage to hold on to the goodness in themselves, and to hold on to the goodness in each other, no matter how difficult it is to do that.

“And this is for you. You inspire me to keep going.”