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Links 🔗
Oscars 2021 Full List of Nominees and Winners
Actors Roundtable with Chadwick Boseman
The 93rd Academy Awards better known as the Oscars 2021 concluded recently. This year’s edition of the award ceremony was a special one as it was hosted in Los Angeles Union Station due to the pandemic. This year saw more history being made as Chloe Zhao becomes the second woman and the first Asian woman to win the Best Director award for her film Nomadland. Nomadland also won the Best Picture Award and in my very humble opinion deserved to win. I will try my best to keep this spoiler free.
Nomadland:
- Adapted from the eponymous book, this movie details a story about Fern, a widow who is forced to move from her home after the Gypsum plant that she works in shuts down causing the collapse of the company town.
- Nomadland is shot beautifully and captures the changing landscape of America throughout its seasons and geography. The pensive background music also delivers a fantastic backdrop for veteran Frances McDormand to portray the inner struggles and turmoil of Fern.
- Nomadland gives a sense of recentring and focus on what matters in life and what is superficial. The complexity and cinematography of this film made me think that it is deserving of an Oscar.
Chloe Zhao:
- Choe Zhao was born in Beijing, China and educated in the UK and US.
- She attended film school in the prestigious New York University Tisch School of the Arts where Ang Lee, Donald Glover and Lady Gaga got their degrees.
- Chloe’s debut film was Songs My Brother Taught Me, a film about the relationship between Native American siblings which was shot on site at a reservation in South Dakota.
- Chloe will also be credited for directing the upcoming Marvel film the Eternals, scheduled to release in November 2021.
Chadwick Boseman:
- I cannot write about the Oscars without mentioning the tragic loss of Chadwick Boseman.
- He is probably most well-known for his portrayal of Black Panther but for me his standout performance was in 42, a film about Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in Major League Baseball. Do watch it if you have a chance.
- I recently watched a roundtable on YouTube which included him and the dedication to his craft showcased in that video was second to none. The fact that he was battling cancer at the time it was filmed makes it so much more precious. Link included at the top of the article.
Throughout this pandemic, many of us have been consuming more movies. However, it is important to remember the people behind the films and celebrate their craft, without them top quality content that increases our cultural capital can never exist. Chloe Zhao is the first Asian woman to win Best Director, I certainly hope she will not be the last.
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