Chloe Zhao makes history after accepting film award for “Outstanding Director”
Oscar-nominated director of “Nomadland” Chloe Zhao made history as she accepted the film award for outstanding directorial achievement at the 2021 Directors Guild Of America Awards. She is the second woman to earn this honor and the first woman of color to do so. Her current status leads up to the Oscars on April 25th.
Usually held in a ballroom ceremony in Beverly Hills, this year’s untelevised event was held virtually with nominees accepting awards over Zoom calls from around the world, featuring presentations by Tiffany Haddish, Bill Hader, Ava DuVernay, Spike Jonez, Sam Mendes, and more.
Zhao was up against Emerald Fennell for “Promising Young Woman,” Aaron Sorkin for “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Lee Isaac Chung for “Minari” and David Fincher for “Mank.” The only difference in the Oscars lineup is that Sorkin is not among the nominees.
Zhao’s lyrical film about transient workers in the American West starring Frances McDormand started its awards journey winning the Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival.
The DGA Awards are often a strong bellwether for the Academy Awards. Aside from last year, every DGA winner since 2014 also won the Academy Award: Alfonso Cuaron for “Gravity” (2014), Alejandro G. Iñárritu for “Birdman” (2015) and “The Revenant” (2016), Damien Chazelle for “La La Land” (2017), Guillermo del Toro for “The Shape of Water” (2018) and Cuaron for “Roma” (2019).
