Avenger of the Week: Filmmaker Chloé Zhao

This week, Chloé Zhao became the first woman of color, the first Chinese woman, and the second woman ever to win the prestigious Best Director award at the 93rd Oscars, earning her a spot as our Avenger of the Week. Despite the fact that she was born in China, the Chinese government did not cover the Oscars on state television and censors blocked most social media references, because she once said in an interview that there were “lies everywhere” when she was growing up in China.

In accepting the Oscar for directing Nomadland, a story about seniors who lost their money in the 2008 recession and had to travel in trailers looking for work, Zhao delivered touching comments. Obviously stunned and teary, she recalled a line in a poem her father taught her in Mandarin that translates as “People at birth are inherently good.” She said she always found good in people she met around the world and dedicated her award to “anyone who has the faith and the courage to hold onto the goodness in themselves and the goodness in each other… you inspire me to keep going”.

With only three films to her directorial credit, Zhao is one of the most sought-after directors in the business. Her next film is based on Marvel Comics’ The Eternals.

The daughter of successful professionals, Zhao, 38, was always curious about the rest of the world. She lived in Beijing until high school and jumped at the chance to go to boarding school in England, although she knew little English. She moved to California on her own to finish her last year of high school, and then graduated from Mount Holyoke College and New York University film school.

She shot her first film about a Lakota family, Songs My Brother Taught Me, at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota using both actors and non-actors. The film was selected for the Sundance and Cannes film festivals. Her second film, The Rider, is about a rodeo competitor, and it was also well-received at several film festivals. Actress and producer Frances McDormand then sought her out to direct a film based on a book by Jessica Bruder that became Nomadland, and the rest is Oscar history. McDormand won her third best actress Oscar for her lead role in Nomadland.

For her amazing directorial talent, which has put more cracks in the glass ceiling, and also for her inspiring words about humanity, we salute Chloé Zhao as our Avenger of the Week.

The @GenderAvenger #AvengerOfTheWeek is filmmaker Chloé Zhao, who is the first woman of color, the first Chinese woman, and the second woman ever to win the prestigious Best Director award at the 93rd Oscars! #GenderAvenger https://www.genderavenger.com/blog/avenger-of-the-week-chloe-zhao