Chloé Zhao is first Asian woman to win Best Director at Oscars

Los Angeles — Director Chloé Zhao just made history at the Oscars 2021 as the first Asian woman to win the award for Best Director. The 39-year-old, also the first Asian woman to be nominated for the award, won the prize for Nomadland.

Zhao joins The Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow as the only woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director.

Nomadand also won Best Picture at the 93rd Academy Awards.

Also, if you did not know, Zhao is the first Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) director to win the Oscar for Best Director. Her next project, MCU’s Eternals, is set to release in November, reported Hype.my.

Fans are expecting the trailer to air soon. As we celebrate the filmmaker’s historic win, Twitter user @women_direct pointed out that there are still Oscar categories never won by a woman “This is for anyone who has the faith and the courage to hold on to the goodness in each other, no matter how difficult it is to do that. And this is for you, you inspire me to keep going,” Zhao said in her acceptance speech.

Actress Sandra Oh and director Lulu Wang tweeted congratulating her shortly after Chloé Zhao gave her winning speech.

Born on March 31, 1982, Chloé Zhao is a Chinese filmmaker who is known primarily for her work in independent US films. Her debut feature film, Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015), premiered at Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim and earned a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature.

Her second feature film, The Rider (2017), was praised by critics and received nominations for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Film and Best Director.

Zhao gained further success with Nomadland (2020), which attracted international recognition and won many awards, including Best Director at the Golden Globe Awards, Directors Guild of America Awards, Academy Awards, and British Academy Film Award, making Zhao the second woman and first Asian woman to win these prizes. The film also won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.

/TISG