Chloé Zhao Makes History As First Woman of Color to Win Best Director at Oscars

Chloé Zhao just made history at the 2021 Oscars as the first woman of color, and the second woman ever, to win Best Director at the Academy Awards. The first and only other woman to win the award before this year was Kathryn Bigelow, for her 2009 war drama, The Hurt Locker.

Zhao’s film Nomadland, has been a favorite of the 2021 awards season, starring Frances McDormand as Fern, a woman who moves into her van and embraces life as a nomad out of financial necessity. The 39-year-old Chinese-American filmmaker had already made history simply by being nominated—the Academy had never before nominated a woman of color for best director, and, in fact, has only ever nominated a grand total of seven women for the award in the show’s 93-year history. This year was also the first time two women were ever nominated in the category, the other being Emerald Fennell for her stylish revenge thriller, Promising Young Woman.

But the quiet beauty of Nomadland clearly captured the Academy’s heart this year. Fern’s story of financial struggle clearly resonated—and it’s not just Fern’s story. Zhao, who also adapted the script from the non-fiction book by Jessica Bruder, featured real-life nomads in her film, including Charlene Swankie, who attended the Oscars on Sunday night with the Nomadland cast and crew.

In her acceptance speech, Zhao reflected on her childhood growing up in China. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I keep going when times get hard,” she said. “And 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 memorize classic Chinese poems and texts.”

She continued, “And there’s one that I remember so dearly. It’s called the Three Character Classics. And the first phrase goes… ‘People at birth are inherently good.'”

“Even though sometimes it may seem like the opposite is true,” Zhao said, “I have always found goodness in the people I’ve met everywhere in the world. So this is for anyone who has the faith and the courage to hold out to the goodness in themselves, and to hold out to the goodness in each other – no matter how difficult it is to do that.”

“You inspire me to keep going,” Zhao concluded. “Thank you.

Nomadland was also nominated for  Best Picture, Best Actress (Frances McDormand), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing at the Oscars. The film is currently available to stream on Hulu and on-demand.

Where to watch Nomadland