Chloé Zhao

Director, writer and producer

Film & TV China Hall No. 51

Profile

Why they shine

Chloé Zhao grew up in Beijing and left for England at fifteen with almost no English, then spent a decade on the margins of American cinema before Nomadland arrived in 2020. Shot in long, patient takes on 35 mm, her third feature followed Frances McDormand as a woman who loses her job, her home and her family and drives a van across the American West. It won the Golden Lion at Venice, the People's Choice at Toronto and, on 25 April 2021, Best Picture and Best Director, making Zhao the second woman and the first woman of colour to win the directing Oscar.

Full name: Chloé Zhao, born Zhao Ting
Nationality: China
Known for: Nomadland, The Rider, Hamnet
Role: Director / Writer / Producer
Oscar win: Best Director, 2021
Signature: Long takes; open landscapes; lived-in detail

Record

Honor record

Academy Award for Best Director

2021 · Apr 25, 2021

Union Station, Los Angeles

The second woman and the first woman of colour to win the award, for Nomadland, which also took Best Picture that night. The pandemic moved the ceremony to the concourse of downtown's Union Station, where nominees sat at lamplit tables. Zhao closed by quoting the Three Character Classics, the first line of which is that people at birth are inherently good.

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