As the Oscars are seen as the most prestigious awards in film, winning Best Director is the pinnacle of one’s directorial career, and only a few deserve it. To win Best Director, one’s overall final product and impact must be better than the competition’s, and after directing “Nomadland,” Chloé Zhao has proven that she is worthy of taking home Best Director at the 2021 Oscars.
Zhao’s “Nomadland” follows the story of Fern, a woman who lost everything in the Great Recession and embarks on an adventure across the West Coast living out of her van as a modern-day nomad.
The criteria for the Best Director award isn’t determined just by their performance on set, but their impact as a whole, too. Through “Nomadland,” Chloé Zhao shares the idea that “home is where the heart is” and tells the story of someone who didn’t have the ideal living situations, but still made a life out of what she had.
Because Chloé Zhao is the director of the movie, she is in charge of everything on set and off. It was evident, from the brilliantly captured shots to the emotional sound mixing that Chloé Zhao was a cut above the competition.
In a category dominated by men at an award show historically biased toward white nominees, Chloé Zhao makes history as the first woman of color to be nominated for Best Director. Not only would it be a deserving win for Chloé Zhao, but it would be an important win for the young women who look like her and look up to her.
Chloé Zhao’s work on “Nomadland,” as well as her impact on the award itself, makes her deserving of Best Director at the 2021 Oscars.
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