https://www.scmp.com/rss/509732/feed Beijing-born filmmaker Chloé Zhao made history at the Academy Awards in 2021. She became the first Asian woman to be named best director for her film Nomadland, which also won the Oscar for best picture. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Sumnima Kandangwa Sumnima Kandangwa Nicole Kidman’s latest role may be her most unexpected yet. The Oscar-winning actress – known for her transformative performances in 1990s and 2000s classics like Moulin Rouge, Eyes Wide Shut and The Hours, and more recently, the 2024 erotic thriller Babygirl – revealed during a recent talk at the University of San Francisco that she is training to become a death doula. Kidman shared that the death of her mother in 2024 inspired her decision. “As my mother was passing, she was lonely, and there... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3350165/explainer-what-death-doula-and-why-nicole-kidman-training-become-one?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3350165/explainer-what-death-doula-and-why-nicole-kidman-training-become-one?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Apr 2026 10:00:47 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The Sundance Film Festival may be a little bittersweet this year. The festival, which kicked off on January 22 in Park City, Utah, will feature stars from Natalie Portman to Charli XCX, and films including breakout discoveries, tear-jerkers, comedies, thrillers, oddities that defy categorisation and maybe even a few future Oscar nominees. The pop-ups and sponsors will be out in full force on Main Street. The queues to get into the 90 movies premiering across 10 days will be long and the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3340811/whats-store-2026-sundance-film-festival-final-one-park-city?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3340811/whats-store-2026-sundance-film-festival-final-one-park-city?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Jan 2026 20:15:07 +0000 The Korea Times,Associated Press The Korea Times,Associated Press Netflix’s animated hit KPop Demon Hunters emerged as a major winner at the 83rd Golden Globe Awards, taking home two awards: best animated feature and best original song for its stand-out track “Golden”. The latter award went to Joong Gyu-kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo, Park Hong Jun, Kim Eun-jae (EJAE) and Mark Sonnenblick, who are credited for the song’s music and lyrics. EJAE reflected on her own journey from K-pop trainee to singer-songwriter. “When I was a little girl, I... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3339555/kpop-demon-hunters-wins-2-golden-globes-including-best-song-golden?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3339555/kpop-demon-hunters-wins-2-golden-globes-including-best-song-golden?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Jan 2026 06:07:13 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh The onset of the holidays means it is awards season in Hollywood. While plenty of this year’s contenders, including Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another and Jon M. Chu’s Wicked: For Good, have already opened in Hong Kong cinemas, the likes of Marty Supreme, starring best actor hopeful Timothée Chalamet, have yet to secure a release date. Similarly, the Hong Kong release of the season’s biggest blockbuster, James Cameron’s eagerly awaited Avatar: Fire and Ash, has been indefinitely... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3336602/12-new-hollywood-movies-watch-winter-2025-hamnet-song-sung-blue?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3336602/12-new-hollywood-movies-watch-winter-2025-hamnet-song-sung-blue?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Dec 2025 23:15:07 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press During the emotionally wrecking final scene of Hamnet, Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal had an issue. “There were moments where the camera was obstructing us,” Buckley recalls. “We were like: ‘No, we have to see each other.’ “And then the minute we did see each other, it was like ‘Oh, no,’” Mescal says, laughing. “What a glorious thing.” In Hamnet, Chloe Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s prize-winning 2020 novel, Mescal plays William Shakespeare and Buckley his wife, Agnes. It is a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3335726/chloe-zhaos-hamnet-jessie-buckley-and-paul-mescal-went-emotional-epic-journey?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3335726/chloe-zhaos-hamnet-jessie-buckley-and-paul-mescal-went-emotional-epic-journey?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Dec 2025 11:15:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Hamnet, a devastating period drama about the life of William Shakespeare and his family, won the top prize on Sunday at the Toronto International Film Festival. The heart-wrenching film stars Paul Mescal as Shakespeare, who tries to forge a career as a playwright while his wife Agnes – played by Jessie Buckley – contends with the perils of plague and childbirth in Elizabethan England. It comes from Beijing-born director Chloé Zhao, who directed 2020’s Oscar-winning Nomadland. Securing the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3325517/chloe-zhaos-shakespeare-family-tragedy-hamnet-wins-top-toronto-film-prize?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3325517/chloe-zhaos-shakespeare-family-tragedy-hamnet-wins-top-toronto-film-prize?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Sep 2025 19:08:48 +0000 The fate of Marvel Studios’ three biggest superhero films in 2021 remains uncertain in mainland China as the country relaunched strict control measures to battle its widest Covid-19 outbreak since Wuhan. There has been no sign of release yet for Black Widow , which entered cinemas in other parts of the world early last month, as public spaces in many regions are closed to curb the spread of the Delta variant, according to a number of Chinese cinema chains. Two other Marvel films, Shang-Chi and... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3144990/marvel-films-black-widow-shang-chi-and-legend?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3144990/marvel-films-black-widow-shang-chi-and-legend?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Aug 2021 10:53:34 +0000 Director Chloe Zhao, fresh off her Nomadland best film win at this year’s Academy Awards, will sit on the jury of the upcoming Venice Film Festival, organisers said on Wednesday. The annual international festival, to be held on the glitzy island of Lido from September 1-11, will be headed by Jury President Bong Joon-ho, the South Korean director whose Parasite won an Oscar for best film in 2019. Zhao, who was born in China but lives and works in the United States, collected Venice’s top prize... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3142014/chloe-zhao-joins-fellow-oscar-winner-bong-joon-ho-venice-film?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3142014/chloe-zhao-joins-fellow-oscar-winner-bong-joon-ho-venice-film?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Jul 2021 17:32:40 +0000 Taylor Sheridan, initially brought on to rewrite the mountain thriller Those Who Wish Me Dead, gradually got more invested in the movie. When another filmmaker dropped out, he called the studio with an offer. “I said if I can get Angie to do this with me, I’ll direct it for you,” Sheridan says. “They said, ‘Great. You’ll never get Angie’.” The scepticism on the part of Warner Bros executives was warranted. Angelina Jolie, whose priorities have centred on filmmaking, international work and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3132917/angelina-jolie-talks-about-letting-those-who-wish-me-dead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3132917/angelina-jolie-talks-about-letting-those-who-wish-me-dead?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 May 2021 14:15:12 +0000 The 1990s are widely recognised as the time when red-carpet dressing for women in Hollywood went into overdrive. It was a development largely attributed to the rise of the celebrity stylist and the eagerness of fashion designers to leverage the brand exposure they gained by having one of their pieces worn by a star. But it must also be recognised that this “new normal” of celebrities decked out in catwalk-level couture at movie and music industry awards shows gained traction during the 90s... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3131555/academy-awards-best-director-chloe-zhao-why-her-oscars-outfit-was?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3131555/academy-awards-best-director-chloe-zhao-why-her-oscars-outfit-was?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Apr 2021 06:15:18 +0000 Chloé Zhao made history as the first Chinese woman and the first woman of colour to win the Oscar for best director. As a film fan, I was deeply impressed by her acceptance speech. Although Zhao quoted a phrase that she had learned from the Chinese traditional text the Three Character Classic – “people at birth are inherently good” – her entire speech emphasised universal values. She said she always found goodness in the people she met, urging people to “hold onto the goodness in each... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3131288/chloe-zhaos-oscars-speech-shows-chinese-can-transcend-limits?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3131288/chloe-zhaos-oscars-speech-shows-chinese-can-transcend-limits?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Apr 2021 17:10:09 +0000 Chloé Zhao is all anyone can talk about right now. The filmmaker from China just made history as the first Asian woman to win best director at the Oscars for her work on Nomadland – among other awards for the film – and she is keen to credit her peers at the momentous occasion. “For Asian filmmakers, for all filmmakers, we have to stay true to who we are, and we have to tell the stories that we feel connected to,” she says in the post-award interview. “We shouldn’t feel like there is only a... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3131338/chloe-zhao-oscars-2021-first-asian-woman-win-best?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3131338/chloe-zhao-oscars-2021-first-asian-woman-win-best?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Apr 2021 22:00:20 +0000 The Oscars ceremony was not shown live on Monday morning in Hong Kong for the first time in decades. Concerns had probably been raised about what Beijing might have thought should there be a shout-out to Hong Kong protesters (there was) or an expression of solidarity with the Uygur people (there wasn’t). Many in Hong Kong who took to the streets in 2019 might also have been hoping that director Anders Hammer would win an Oscar for Do Not Split, a short documentary about the protests. (He did... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3131234/oscars-are-more-diverse-now-hollywood-still-has-work-do-stopping?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3131234/oscars-are-more-diverse-now-hollywood-still-has-work-do-stopping?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Apr 2021 19:30:06 +0000 News of Beijing-born filmmaker Chloé Zhao’s historic win at this year’s Oscars – she became the first Asian woman to be named best director for her road movie Nomadland, which also picked up the best picture award – has either been downplayed or censored in China. No mainland media livestreamed the event and there was no mention of the 39-year-old’s Oscar wins from the People’s Daily and Xinhua News Agency, China’s official mouthpieces.  On social media, there was also little discussion on the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3131131/nomadland-director-chloe-zhaos-historic-oscars-win-censored?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3131131/nomadland-director-chloe-zhaos-historic-oscars-win-censored?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Apr 2021 10:11:50 +0000 Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland, a wistful portrait of itinerant lives on open roads across the American West, won best picture at the 93rd Academy Awards, where the China-born Zhao also became just the second woman to win best director, and the first woman of colour. The Nomadland victory, while widely expected, nevertheless capped the extraordinary rise of Zhao, a lyrical filmmaker whose winning film is just her third, and which – with a budget less than US$5 million and featuring a cast populated by... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3131082/oscars-winners-wrap-nomadland-chloe-zhao-anthony-hopkins?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3131082/oscars-winners-wrap-nomadland-chloe-zhao-anthony-hopkins?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Apr 2021 06:12:28 +0000 This story has been made freely available to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. A year after the Korean megahit Parasite surprised the entertainment world by taking home the best picture Oscar, the postponed showpiece event of Hollywood’s awards season is set to bring us more intrigue this time around. This 2021 edition is the first in the awards’ history to allow movies released via streaming to compete for the top prizes – in other words, this is a year... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3130796/oscars-2021-live-updates-93rd-academy-awards-ceremony-where?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3130796/oscars-2021-live-updates-93rd-academy-awards-ceremony-where?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Apr 2021 23:37:32 +0000 Chinese filmmaker Chloe Zhao’s US recession drama Nomadland, about a community of van dwellers, was the big winner at Britain’s Bafta awards on Sunday. Zhao became only the second woman to win the Bafta for best director, and star Frances McDormand was named best actress. Nomadland also took the cinematography prize. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts ceremony was held virtually over two nights, with nominees joining in by video, because of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, film stars... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3129142/chinese-filmmaker-chloe-zhaos-nomadland-wins-bafta-awards-best-film-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3129142/chinese-filmmaker-chloe-zhaos-nomadland-wins-bafta-awards-best-film-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Apr 2021 20:26:00 +0000 Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland won this year’s top Hollywood directing award on Saturday – the final major guild ceremony before the Oscars, and an important late bellwether in Tinseltown’s pandemic-delayed and mainly virtual award season. Zhao spent her entire victory speech praising her fellow nominees, who must now be wondering what they can do to catch up with her critically adored and awards-dominating US road movie before the Academy Awards on April 25. “I want to thank you guys for teaching me so... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3129083/nomadland-film-chinese-filmmaker-chloe-zhao-wins?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3129083/nomadland-film-chinese-filmmaker-chloe-zhao-wins?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Apr 2021 03:50:56 +0000 Right now, the rise of Chloé Zhao just feels unstoppable. The Beijing-born filmmaker’s third film, Nomadland, has become the movie to beat in this year’s awards season race. In March, she became the first ever Asian woman to win best director at the recent Golden Globes and – after Barbra Streisand in 1984 – only the second woman ever to claim the prize. As Streisand herself tweeted, “It’s about time!” In April, Zhao’s film will compete at both the BAFTAs and the Oscars – with Nomadland now a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3127574/chloe-zhao-nomadlands-feminist-qualities-her-hope-make?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3127574/chloe-zhao-nomadlands-feminist-qualities-her-hope-make?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Mar 2021 04:45:06 +0000 US film Nomadland, which earned six Oscar nominations on Monday, tells the story of a woman who becomes a nomad in the wake of the economic recession – spotlighting a way of life that has seen an explosion of interest in the time of coronavirus. The US recession drama, which follows the story of an itinerant Amazon warehouse worker who lives in her oversized recreational vehicle (RV), received six nods, including best picture and best director for Chinese-born filmmaker Chloe Zhao. Of the 11.2... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3125607/chloe-zhaos-oscar-nominated-nomadland-spotlights?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3125607/chloe-zhaos-oscar-nominated-nomadland-spotlights?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Mar 2021 04:40:17 +0000 March began on a sweet note for Chloé Zhao when her movie Nomadland won the top prizes of both best drama film and best director at the 2021 Golden Globes Awards – making the Chinese filmmaker the second woman and first Asian woman to win the latter category. And more success seems likely to follow, with Nomadland already tipped as a front-runner for next month’s Oscars. Zhao was already known for being the first Asian female director of a movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), with... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3125034/nomadlands-chloe-zhao-beijing-golden-globes-meet-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3125034/nomadlands-chloe-zhao-beijing-golden-globes-meet-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Mar 2021 00:00:15 +0000 Chinese film director Chloé Zhao won this year’s Golden Globe for best director for her film Nomadland. Zhao is the first Chinese woman to win the prize, and her win was applauded in China and by its entertainment industry.  More significantly, the film also came out on top in the best picture drama category. Nomadland is the 38-year-old director’s third feature film, following Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015) and The Rider (2017). The story follows a woman living as a modern-day nomad after... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3123611/china-rejoices-chloe-zhao-makes-history-golden-globe-best?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3123611/china-rejoices-chloe-zhao-makes-history-golden-globe-best?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Mar 2021 10:30:04 +0000 With homebound nominees appearing by remote video and hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on different sides of the country, a very socially distanced 78th Golden Globe Awards trudged on in the midst of the pandemic and a storm of criticism. Netflix, which came in with a commanding 42 nominations, won the top television awards. The Crown, as expected, took best drama series, along with acting wins for Josh O’Connor (Prince Charles), Emma Corrin (Princess Diana) and Gillian Anderson (Margaret... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3123544/golden-globes-2021-nomadland-scoops-best-picture-crown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3123544/golden-globes-2021-nomadland-scoops-best-picture-crown?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Mar 2021 04:58:00 +0000 Nomadland director Chloé Zhao was nominated for a Golden Globe on Wednesday morning, making her the first ever woman of Asian descent recognised in the directing category. Zhao’s nomination should not come as a surprise. Nomadland earned the top prize at the Venice and Toronto film festivals and the Chinese-American filmmaker has been picking up accolades for her work throughout the season, including best director awards from various critics organisations such as the National Society of Film... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3120440/golden-globes-nomadlands-chloe-zhao-first-asian?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3120440/golden-globes-nomadlands-chloe-zhao-first-asian?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Feb 2021 17:24:39 +0000 With Nomadland, just her third film, Chinese-born director Chloé Zhao has truly landed on the international stage. Perfectly judged, it tells the story of Fern (Frances McDormand), a widower who travels the American heartlands in her beat-up white van. Nomadland attracted such glowing reviews from critics that when it was awarded the 2020 Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion last week, it felt almost a formality. Zhao’s film is certain to feature at next year’s Oscars, and she may well become... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3101794/about-chloe-zhao-china-born-director-nomadland-oscars-hope?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3101794/about-chloe-zhao-china-born-director-nomadland-oscars-hope?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Sep 2020 17:15:15 +0000 Being the first physical film festival to take place since the Covid-19 pandemic, all eyes were on this year’s event in Venice. Huge credit is due to artistic director Alberto Barbera and his team, for they pulled it off. Temperature checks, mandatory mask-wearing, socially distanced screenings, even a big wall blocking off the red carpet to stop crowds gathering – everything possible was done to keep festivalgoers safe. While there were fewer films and A-list stars than usual, the festival... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3101475/venice-2020-10-best-films-festival-chloe-zhaos-golden-lion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3101475/venice-2020-10-best-films-festival-chloe-zhaos-golden-lion?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Sep 2020 12:45:09 +0000 Nomadland by director Chloe Zhao won top prize at the Venice film festival on Saturday, the first woman to win the prize in a decade. The film, an ode to American wanderlust and the highs and lows of the open road, won the Golden Lion in a competition billed as a relaunch of global cinema bruised by the coronavirus crisis. Starring Frances McDormand, it is set among the new tribe of ageing van dwellers, down on their luck and roaming the West. The double-Oscar winner plays a widow who takes to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3101334/top-prize-venice-film-festival-given-nomadland-chinese-born?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3101334/top-prize-venice-film-festival-given-nomadland-chinese-born?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Sep 2020 21:18:23 +0000 5/5 stars Chinese-born director Chloé Zhao launched her international filmmaking career in 2017 with The Rider, a hugely moving exploration of life in the American heartlands. She returns to that milieu in her new film, Nomadland. Playing in competition at the Venice Film Festival, this is every bit as powerful: an ode to pioneer spirit and a lament for the communities and lives that were decimated after the financial recession of 2008. The film opens with a caption explaining that the town of... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3101264/venice-2020-nomadland-movie-review-chloe-zhao-returns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3101264/venice-2020-nomadland-movie-review-chloe-zhao-returns?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Sep 2020 20:00:12 +0000 If you make a quick search of past Marvel film directors, you’ll find that the list is overwhelmingly male. Anna Boden did Captain Marvel, but that was about it. Luckily, times are a-changing. Cate Shortland directed the upcoming Black Widow, while Chloé Zhao will be the first Asian, female director for a movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Zhao, who grew up in Beijing and studied in Los Angeles and New York, is behind the new superhero film, The Eternals, which will be released in... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3049560/eternals-who-chloe-zhao-beijing-born-female-director?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3049560/eternals-who-chloe-zhao-beijing-born-female-director?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Feb 2020 04:00:17 +0000 The National Society of Film Critics on Saturday chose Chloe Zhao’s low-budget debut feature, The Rider, as best picture of 2018. Director Alfonso Cuaron’s black-and-white Roma period piece set in modern Mexico won the most awards – as best picture runner-up, best foreign-language film and for best cinematography. Cuaron also got the award for best director. The society of leading film critics voted for Olivia Colman as best actress in The Favourite and Ethan Hawke as best actor in First... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2180871/chinese-director-chloe-zhaos-rider-picked-best?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2180871/chinese-director-chloe-zhaos-rider-picked-best?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Jan 2019 03:20:59 +0000