Chloé Zhao Made History With the Second Ever Female Director Golden Globe Win for ‘Nomadland’
Director, Chloé Zhao, won the Golden Globe for best director this past Sunday for her talent in directing Nomadland.
Zhao, the second female director to ever receive this award, is also the first Asian-American and woman of color to be the best director recipient. Her film, Nomadland, follows the tale of a woman in her sixties who is a victim of the Great Recession and decides to embark on the epic journey of becoming a nomad. She leaves her so-called “normal” life and becomes a van-dwelling nomad fixated on the itinerant lifestyle.
Chloé Zhao’s NOMADLAND is poetry of the highest order, graceful and devastating. An elegy for one American dream, and a soulful reflection of another, it knows grief as letting go of one life before you can imagine another. A painfully indelible film at a perfect moment. #TIFF20 pic.twitter.com/H7v1wG1cwN
— Isaac Feldberg (@isaacfeldberg) September 12, 2020
The plot continues as Fern (Frances McDormand) searches for work, willing to travel wherever and at great lengths to find something to make her whole again. Nomandland is exceptionally keen on finding the silver lining in every situation. The basis of the film is discovering the hidden poetry and personality behind the average American woman.
After the evening concluded, Nomandland snubbed a rightfully deserved best director title and best drama film. Zhao is the first woman ever to win a Golden Globe for a drama film. The last woman to win the best director category was Barbara Streisand back in 1984 for her film Yentl. Critics were skeptical about the HFPA and Golden Globes’ lack of diversity from the Michaela Coel and Emily In Paris controversy and continuous racism, but Asian-American talent shone through.
Not only was Minari filmed entirely in the US, the whole story takes place in America, is about life in America, was written and directed by an American, produced by an American company, and… *America has no official language* https://t.co/6vy068PWEC
— Elika Sadeghi (@elikasadeghi) March 1, 2021
It’s great to see Minari rewarded with a Golden Globe, but it is unsettling that the film was placed in the “foreign language” category when most of the film was done in English.
In a time when Asian-Americans are being attacked because we’re still seen as foreign and a disease, NOMADLAND, Chloé Zhao, and MINARI winning Golden Globes means so much. We exist, we are Americans.
— Lady WhistleDiep (aka Diep Tran) (@diepthought) March 1, 2021
The HFPA are still hacks though.
According to one Twitter user, the Asian-American directors’ films are American to their core. In a country founded as a melting pot, one another must unite to celebrate each other’s diversity and struggle in the American portrait. Zhao’s film showcases the human experience in the American West while Minari showcases the American dream. Both are works of art that earned their well-deserved awards.
The HFPA and Golden Globes may not be perfect at diversity and inclusion, but it’s miraculous to see Asian-American talent celebrated at the 2021 Golden Globes. You can watch Nomandland now on Hulu.
Glitter Magazine Writer | Tweet me @gabbigabehart
