Nomadland
The title Nomadland is no poetic exaggeration. The America in Chloé Zhao's film is indeed home to itinerant people constantly on the move. For some, this is a necessity in life, for others it is a choice dictated by the love of freedom. Fern (the appropriately-lauded Frances McDormand, who also co-produced the film) sits somewhere between these extremes. Her journey through America, which was originally intended solely for a job search, turns into an unpredictable voyage into herself before our very eyes. Following the protagonist's initially hidden desires, Chloé Zhao made an entirely classic and deeply modern film. Nomadland works both as an all-American road movie and as an impressionistic experiment in which most of the main roles have been entrusted to amateur actors. This duality did not go unnoticed by members of the American Film Academy, who boldly awarded Chloé Zhao's film the Oscar for Best Picture.
awards
Oscars 2021 – Best Motion Picture of the Year, Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Achievement in Directing; BAFTA 2021 – Best Film, Leading Actress, Director, Cinematography; Venice IFF 2020 – Best Film; Camerimage 2020 – Golden Frog; Toronto IFF 2020 – People’s Choice Award
Chloé Zhao
Chloé Zhao was born in 1983 in Beijing. She became fascinated with cinema in her adolescence, when she considered Wong Karwai's Happy Together her favorite film. At the age of 15, she was sent by her parents to a boarding school in Great Britain and, after graduation, she moved to the United States, where she went to film school. After making Songs My Brothers Taught Me and The Rider, Zhao was often billed as one of the greatest hopes of American independent cinema. Thanks to Nomadland, she became only the second woman in history, after Kathryn Bigelow, to win the Oscar for Best Director.
Selected filmography
2008 Post (short)
2010 Daughters (short)
2011 Benachin (short)
2015 Pieśni moich braci / Songs My Brothers Taught Me
2017 The Rider
2017 The Fabulous Allan Carr
2020 Nomadland
Cast & Crew
