Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland took home three Oscars at the 93rd Academy Awards — Best Picture, Best Director for Zhao and Best Actress for Frances McDormand. With her win, Zhao became the first woman of colour and only the second woman ever to take home the directing nod at the prestigious event.
The film is a stunning adaptation of Jessica Bruder’s 2017 book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century and also won the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award for Best Film.
Three-time Oscar Winner McDormand stars as Fern — a woman who has lost everything in the global financial crisis and now spends her days traversing America in her van, acquiring work where and whenever she can. The film references real-life town Empire, Nevada — a former mining area that became a ghost town thanks to the 2008 global financial crisis, displacing the entire community.
McDormand stars opposite real-life nomads — including Swankie, Bob Wells and Linda May who all appeared in Bruder’s book — and Academy Award nominee David Strathairn in this ode to simplicity, anti-capitalism and starting over.
The film beat out fellow nominees, The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, Minari, Promising Young Woman, Sound of Metal and The Trial of the Chicago 7 to win the top award at this years ceremony.
If you missed seeing Nomadland in cinemas, or if you’d just love to watch it again in the comfort of your own home, it will be available on Star on Disney+ in Australia and New Zealand from April 30th 2021 and available to all Disney+ subscribers at no additional charge.
The film was produced by McDormand (Olive Kitteridge), Peter Spears (Call Me by Your Name), Dan Janvey (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Mollye Asher (The Rider), and Zhao (The Rider). Zhao also edited the film, with Joshua James Richards (God’s Own Country) serving as Director of Photography and Production Designer, and featuring the sound team of M. Wolf Snyder (The Rider), Sergio Diaz (Roma), and Zach Seivers (Assassins).
If you need more reason to watch this captivating, award-winning film, you can read our review: Chloé Zhao’s Stunning Film ‘Nomadland’ Deserves to Win All of the Awards.
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