Chloé Zhao recently made history as the first woman of Asian descent to ever win (or even be nominated for) the Golden Globe for Best Director. Zhao's landmark win was for her 2020 drama Nomadland, starring Frances McDormand, which took home the prize for Best Motion Picture (Drama) as well.
So, who is Chloé Zhao? And what is she currently working on? Here's everything you need to know about the award-winning director.
Zhao is a 38-year-old director, screenwriter and producer. Although she was born in Beijing, China, she attended boarding school in London before moving to the U.S. Zhao studied film production at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where she started working on what would later become her first feature-length film. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her partner, Joshua James Richards, and their three chickens and two dogs.
Zhao made her directorial debut with Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015), which she directed, wrote and produced. Two years after she earned a nomination at the Cannes Film Festival, Zhao released The Rider (2017), a western drama that garnered even more praise. Not to mention, Zhao's latest film, Nomadland, was rated the best movie of 2020, according to Metacritic.
Zhao will take on her first superhero flick with Eternals, which will be released on November 5. The Marvel Studios production will take place after the events of Avengers: Endgame, and it will center around "ancient aliens who have been living on Earth in secret for thousands of years."
This was the first time that Zhao had ever been nominated for a Golden Globe, and she certainly had a successful night. Zhao humbly accepted the two wins for Nomadland by emphasizing the message of compassion in her films, saying, "I think a lot of great people have been doing incredible work in the community to raise awareness...I think when we look in each other’s eyes and stare at the other person, you can’t deny them as a human being. We all just have to learn. Maybe we need to be a bit more compassionate to ourselves.”
Big congratulations to Zhao!
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