WASHINGTON: ‘Nomadland’, the frontrunner of the award season this year, bagged an Oscar for ‘Best Picture’ at the 93rd Academy Awards.
This is the second win for ‘Nomadland’ at the 93rd Academy Awards as earlier Chloe Zhao took home the Oscar for best direction, becoming the first person of colour to bag this award. She is only the second woman in the history of the Academy Awards to win this particular laurel. ‘Nomadland’ is Zhao’s third feature film, following 2015’s ‘Songs My Brothers Taught Me’ and 2017’s much-lauded ‘The Rider’. Her next film project is Marvel’s highly anticipated ‘Eternals’, which is currently scheduled for a fall release after being delayed because of COVID-19.
Earlier, Zhao had won a Golden Globe for best director for ‘Nomadland’, making her the second woman ever to win for helming, and the first woman of colour to win in the category. ‘Nomadland’ is a 2020 American drama film directed, written, and edited by Zhao. It stars Frances McDormand as a woman who leaves home to travel around the American West. The film is based on the 2017 non-fiction book ‘Nomadland: Surviving America’ in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder. Also in the ceremony, British actor Daniel Kaluuya took home the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, for his performance in the ‘Judas and Black Messiah’. Denmark’s ‘Another Round’ won an Oscar for ‘Best International Feature Film’. Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller took home an Oscar in the category of Adapted Screenplay for their work in the Anthony Hopkins-starrer ‘The Father’. Emerald Fennell also won an Oscar for Original Screenplay for the comedy thriller film ‘Promising Young Woman’.
The 93rd Academy Awards are being held at both Dolby Theatre and Union Station. The ceremony is taking place two months later than planned, due to impact left by pandemic.