Chloé Zhao

赵婷

1982 – Present

Biography

Chloé Zhao (born Zhao Ting, in Chinese: 赵婷; 31 March 1982) is a Chinese-born filmmaker. She is known primarily for her work on independent films. For her film Nomadland (2020), Zhao is the second of three women to win the Academy Award for Best Director. Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015), her debut feature film, premiered at Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim and earned a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. The Rider (2017) was critically acclaimed and received nominations for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Film and Best Director. Zhao garnered international recognition with the American film Nomadland (2020), which she wrote, produced, edited and directed, and which won numerous accolades, including the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Earning four Academy Award nominations for the film, Zhao won Best Picture and Best Director, becoming the first woman of color to win the latter. She also won awards for directing at the Directors Guild of America Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and British Academy Film Awards, becoming the second female winner of each of them. Zhao co-wrote and directed the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Eternals (2021). Her latest film, Hamnet, premiered at the 52nd Telluride Film Festival to critical acclaim. Description above from the Wikipedia article Chloé Zhao, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Selected Filmography

Selected Recognition

Hamnet

2025
  1. Winner

    Golden Globe · Best Motion Picture - Drama (2026) · Winner

  2. Winner

    BAFTA · Outstanding British Film (2026) · Winner

  3. Nominee

    Academy Award · Best Director (2026) · Nominee

  4. Nominee

    Academy Award · Best Adapted Screenplay (2026) · Nominee

  5. Nominee

    Academy Award · Best Picture (2026) · Nominee

  1. First

    Chloé Zhao became the first woman of color to direct a Marvel Studios film — joining Anna Boden and Cate Shortland as one of three women announced to direct MCU films around the same time

  1. Winner

    Academy Award · Best Picture (2021) · Winner

  2. Winner

    Academy Award · Best Director (2021) · Winner

  3. Winner

    Golden Lion · Golden Lion (2020) · Winner

  4. Winner

    BAFTA · Best Film (2021) · Winner

  5. Winner

    BAFTA · Best Director (2021) · Winner

  6. Winner

    Golden Globe · Best Director (2021) · Winner

  7. Nominee

    Academy Award · Best Adapted Screenplay (2021) · Nominee

  8. Nominee

    Academy Award · Best Film Editing (2021) · Nominee

  9. First

    Chloé Zhao is the first woman of color and second woman ever to win the Academy Award for Best Director — the film's Best Picture win made it only the second Oscar winner in that category directed by a woman

  1. Nominee

    Independent Spirit Award · Best Film (2018) · Nominee

  2. Nominee

    Independent Spirit Award · Best Director (2018) · Nominee

  1. Nominee

    Independent Spirit Award · Best First Feature (2016) · Nominee

  2. Nominee

    Cannes Film Festival · Caméra d'Or (Directors' Fortnight) (2015) · Nominee

  3. First

    Chloé Zhao's directorial debut — one of three women filmmakers selected out of 1,623 submissions to Cannes' Directors' Fortnight that year

Interviews

External Resources