History Made as Chloe Zhao Becomes The First Asian Director to Win An Oscar

The Chinese-born film director is the first Asian to win an Academy Award in directing category.

On Sunday, April 25, Filmmaker Chloe Zhao has won the best director at the 93rd Academy Awards. She won the coveted award for her movie "Nomadland" in the Academy Awards. 

In claiming the trophy, she has made history as only the second woman director and the first-ever Asian ever to win the prestigious prize.

Chloe Zhao wins Oscar for Best Director for Nomadland on Sunday.
Photo Source: Variety

The acclaimed film is based on the 2017 non-fiction book "Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century" by Jessica Bruder. The movie is about the life of marginalized Americans roaming in the US. 

In addition to bagging the Best Director award, Nomadland also bagged the best picture, and its lead, Frances McDormand, won the best actress award.  

Zhao, who originally hails from China, went to study in Brighton, England, when she was fourteen. After finishing high school there, she moved to the US, where she studied political science in Massachusetts. In 2010, she moved to New York and enrolled in NYU's Tish School of the Arts. 

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Speaking about her bond with China, Zhao has had a bit of an odd relationship with her homeland. Due to her comments in a 2013 interview where she stated that while growing up in China, she "received a lot of information which were not true," which is why she later "became very rebellious toward her family and her background." 

As a result of that statement, China reportedly censored the marking of Nomadland online. However, Chinese media, who remained quiet for a while, opened their lid when Chinese microblogging site Weibo titled her "the light of China" after her acceptance speech at the Oscars Awards 2021. 

Chinese online users praised her work and expressed their joy by referring to the 39-year-old as "the Pride of Chinese people."

Indeed it was an incredible win for Zhao, whose Nomadland is just the third feature film. 

Chloe Zhao with Marvel president Kevin Feige at Marvel Con. 
Photo Source: Syfy Wire

The lady's next work is in the Marvel comic movie "The Eternals," in which she is working as a director and writer. 

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