‘NOMADLAND’ WINS BEST PICTURE AT THE 93RD ACADEMY AWARDS

Mon 26 April 2021:

The 93rd annual Academy Awards made history before the first award was even handed out.

Chloe Zhao’s neo-western drama Nomadland won for Best Picture on Sunday night at the Academy Awards.

The 93rd Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, were held at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.

The ceremony also was treated like a movie set. Nominees were permitted to remain maskless while on camera, but had to place their masks back on when the cameras stopped rolling.

After years of criticism for a lack of diversity, this year’s slate of nominees contained some notable firsts. It was the first time an all-Black producing team was nominated for best picture, the first time two actors of Asian descent received a nod for best actor and the first year that two women were nominated for best director. 

When the winners were revealed, it reflected this spirit of inclusion.

Directed by Asian-American Chloe Zhao, the film is about a woman in her 60s losing her job and all her property in Nevada amid the 2008 financial crisis. She sets out alone across the American West in her van and joins a caravan of nomads and travels through the western states of the US.

Nomadland was one of eight films selected for best picture. The other contenders included The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, Minari, Promising Young Woman, Sound of Metal and the Trial of the Chicago 7.

Mank, the dramatic re-telling of how screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz developed the screenplay for Citizen Kane, led all films with 10 nominations.

Zhao became the second woman to receive the best director award in the 93-year history of the Oscars.

Netflix won the night, taking home seven trophies — two for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” two for “Mank” and then individual awards for best live-action short, best animated short and best documentary feature.

Disney had the second-largest haul with five, including three wins for “Nomadland” and two for “Soul.”

Best picture