01of 12From Beijing to New York CityDirector, screenwriter and producer Chloé Zhao moved to New York City from Beijing to attendNYU’s Tisch School of the Artsin 2010. It was there she developed her critically acclaimed short filmDaughters, which won numerous awards including best student live action short at the 2010 Palm Springs International ShortFest.
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From Beijing to New York City
Director, screenwriter and producer Chloé Zhao moved to New York City from Beijing to attendNYU’s Tisch School of the Artsin 2010. It was there she developed her critically acclaimed short filmDaughters, which won numerous awards including best student live action short at the 2010 Palm Springs International ShortFest.
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First Feature Film
Larry Busacca/Getty
During her program, Zhao also finished her debut feature film,Songs My Brothers Taught Me, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival’s US Dramatic Competition.
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Accumulating Accolades
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Her debut project earned her several nominations and awards throughout the film festival circuit, including nominations for the grand jury prize at Sundance in 2015 and the best first feature and someone to watch awards at the 2016 Film Independent Spirit Awards.
“It’s a complicated connection—both freeing and confining,” she added. “I wanted to make a film exploring that complicity.”
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Here Comes The Rider
Caviar/Highwayman Films/Kobal/Shutterstock
Zhao’s next film,The Rider, was released in 2017 and gave her a bigger boost in recognition and respect as a director when it garnered high praise following its premiere at Cannes Film Festival.
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Riding High Through Awards Season
Michael Loccisano/Getty
The movie broke open the film festival floodgates with a slew of nominations and awards, including best film at the National Society of Film Critics Awards and best feature at the Gotham Awards. Zhao also received the covetedArt Cinema awardfollowing the premiere at the Director’s Fortnight selection at the Cannes Film Festival.
Zhao explained why she centered her story on Jandreau in a 2018 interview withVanity Fair.
“I really wanted to make a film that celebrates that, celebrates those who stay on the reservation, who make the tough choices in life, who keep going,” she continued. “I don’t think our culture celebrates that enough.”
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Major Recognition
Jamie McCarthy/Getty
07of 12Inaugural High HonorsEmma McIntyre/WireImageIn 2018, Zhao also recieved the first-everBonnie Awardat the Film Independent Spirit Awards nominee brunch. The prize is a $50,000 grant given to a talented mid-career female director who demonstrates innovation and uniqueness of vision in film.
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Inaugural High Honors
Emma McIntyre/WireImage
In 2018, Zhao also recieved the first-everBonnie Awardat the Film Independent Spirit Awards nominee brunch. The prize is a $50,000 grant given to a talented mid-career female director who demonstrates innovation and uniqueness of vision in film.
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Teaming Up with Frances McDormand
Frances McDormand and Chloé Zhao on the set ofNomadland.Joshua James Richards
09of 12Joining the Marvel UniverseEternals cast.Alberto E. Rodriguez/GettyZhao has switched gears from telling stories from America’s heartland to diving into the Marvel Universe, as she was chosen to directThe Eternalsin 2018. The director beat out several other contenders, including Nicole Kassell (who has worked onWatchmenandWestworld) and Travis Knight (Bumblebee).The Eternalscast is stacked with A-listers including Salma Hayek, Angelia Jolie, Gemma Chan, Kit Harington, Kumail Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry and more, and isslated to be releasedon Nov. 5, 2021.
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Joining the Marvel Universe
Eternals cast.Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty
Zhao has switched gears from telling stories from America’s heartland to diving into the Marvel Universe, as she was chosen to directThe Eternalsin 2018. The director beat out several other contenders, including Nicole Kassell (who has worked onWatchmenandWestworld) and Travis Knight (Bumblebee).
The Eternalscast is stacked with A-listers including Salma Hayek, Angelia Jolie, Gemma Chan, Kit Harington, Kumail Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry and more, and isslated to be releasedon Nov. 5, 2021.
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Award Season Favorite
Francis McDormand inNomadland.Courtesy Searchlight Pictures
11of 12Making History — TwiceAmanda Edwards/GettyZhao joinedPromising Young Woman’s Emerald Fennell andOne Night in Miami’s Regina King as part of ahistoric group of women directors nominated for best directorat the 2021Golden Globes. It was the first time ever more than one woman had been nominated in the best director category, and Zhao was also the first woman of Asian descent to ever be recognized in the directing category.Her win made her just the second female best director ever, and first female of Asian descent to score the award. She also nabbed the best director award at the April 22 Film Independent Spirit Awards, where four of the five nominees were women for the first time ever. She won best director at the BAFTA awards, too, two weeks prior.
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Making History — Twice
Amanda Edwards/Getty
Zhao joinedPromising Young Woman’s Emerald Fennell andOne Night in Miami’s Regina King as part of ahistoric group of women directors nominated for best directorat the 2021Golden Globes. It was the first time ever more than one woman had been nominated in the best director category, and Zhao was also the first woman of Asian descent to ever be recognized in the directing category.
Her win made her just the second female best director ever, and first female of Asian descent to score the award. She also nabbed the best director award at the April 22 Film Independent Spirit Awards, where four of the five nominees were women for the first time ever. She won best director at the BAFTA awards, too, two weeks prior.
12of 12A New AccoladeABCAt the 2021 Oscars,Zhao won Best Director, becoming just the second woman to do so (first was Kathryn Bigelow for 2010’sThe Hurt Locker). She was the first woman of Asian descent to be nominated, and only the fifth woman ever, alongside another female 2021 nominee, Emerald Fennell.In her moving Best Director acceptance speech, Zhao reflected on her childhood.“I’ve been thinking a lot lately of how I keep going when things get hard, and I think it goes back to something I learned as a kid,” theNomadlanddirector said. “When I was growing up in China, my dad and I used to play this game. We would memorize classic Chinese poems and texts, and we would recite it together and try to finish each other’s sentences.““There’s one that I remember so dearly; it’s called ‘The Three Character Classics,’ " she continued, before stating the first phrase, then translating it to: “People at birth are inherently good.““Those six letters had such impact on me as a kid,” recalled Zhao. “And I still truly believe them today, even though sometimes it might seem like the opposite is true. But I have always found goodness in the people I met everywhere I went in the world. So this is for anyone who has the faith and the courage to hold onto the goodness in themselves and to hold onto the goodness in each other, no matter how difficult it is to do this.”
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A New Accolade
ABC
At the 2021 Oscars,Zhao won Best Director, becoming just the second woman to do so (first was Kathryn Bigelow for 2010’sThe Hurt Locker). She was the first woman of Asian descent to be nominated, and only the fifth woman ever, alongside another female 2021 nominee, Emerald Fennell.
In her moving Best Director acceptance speech, Zhao reflected on her childhood.
“I’ve been thinking a lot lately of how I keep going when things get hard, and I think it goes back to something I learned as a kid,” theNomadlanddirector said. “When I was growing up in China, my dad and I used to play this game. We would memorize classic Chinese poems and texts, and we would recite it together and try to finish each other’s sentences.”
“There’s one that I remember so dearly; it’s called ‘The Three Character Classics,’ " she continued, before stating the first phrase, then translating it to: “People at birth are inherently good.”
“Those six letters had such impact on me as a kid,” recalled Zhao. “And I still truly believe them today, even though sometimes it might seem like the opposite is true. But I have always found goodness in the people I met everywhere I went in the world. So this is for anyone who has the faith and the courage to hold onto the goodness in themselves and to hold onto the goodness in each other, no matter how difficult it is to do this.”
source: people.com
