Chloe Zhao is a Chinese-born American filmmaker. She is probably best known for her directorial venture Nomadland (2020), starring Frances McDormand. She won the Academy Award for Best Director at the 93rd Academy Awards, making her the first woman of color to win an Oscar in a particular category. Zhao is an independent filmmaker and has directed films such as Songs My Brothers Taught Me and The Rider. Both movies received critical praise and earned nominations for the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature, Best Film, and Best Director, respectively. Most recently, she joined hands with the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the superhero film Eternals. starring Angelina Jolie, Kumail Nanjiani, and Lauren Ridloff.
Chloe Zhao Biography
Birth Name
Zhao Ting
Nick Name
Chloé Zhao
Born
She was born on March 31, 1982, and she’s now 41 years old.
Birth Place
Beijing, China
Birth Sign
Aries
Profession
Filmmaker
Nationality
Chinese
Ethnicity
Chinese
Family Details
- Father: Zhao Yuji (Former General Manager of a Chinese State-Owned Steel Company)
- Mother: Her mother is a hospital worker who had once worked in a performance troupe for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA)
- Siblings: She’s the only child
- Relatives: Song Dandan (Step-Mother) (Actress), Batu Ying (Step-Brother)
Education
Zhao earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. She studied film production at New York University Tisch School of the Arts.
Residence
Los Angeles, California, United States
Chloe Zhao Boyfriend
Chloe Zhao has been in a relationship with Joshua James Richards for years now.
Body Statistics
Height
5 feet 5 inches or 165 cm
Weight
57 kg or 126 lbs
Body Build
Slim
Hair Color
Dark Brown
Eye Color
Light Brown
Sexuality
Straight
Famous For
Chloe Zhao received critical praise and acclaim for Nomadland (2020), her third directorial venture starring Frances McDormand. She plays a widow named Fern who loses everything and rebuilds her life as a modern American nomad.
Based on the 2017 non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder, the film has already made it to many prestigious awards for the 2021 season.
Apart from the film itself winning several awards, she became the first woman of Asian descent to win a Golden Globe Award for Best Director. Furthermore, she also became the first woman of color to win an Academy Award for Best Director at the 93rd Academy Awards.
Chloe Zhao Facts
Her parents divorced when she was a little girl and her father later remarried a Chinese sitcom actress Song Dandan
While at NYU, her short film Daughters won Best Student Live Action Short at the 2010 Palm Springs International ShortFest and the Special Jury Prize at the 2010 Cinequest Film Festival.
She made her directorial debut with the 2015 film, Songs My Brothers Taught Me, which premiered as part of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival.
Her second feature film, Rider premiered in the 2017 Cannes Film Festival’s Director’s Fortnight selection and won the Art Cinema Award. Zhao received nominations for Best Director and Best Feature at the 33rd Independent Spirit Awards. She was the first recipient of the Independent Spirit Bonnie Award.
Zhao was hired by Marvel Studios to direct Eternals, based on the comic book characters of the same name. The film stars Angelina Jolie in the title character alongside Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, and Salma Hayek.
In 2020, she received critical acclaim for her movie Nomadland, which earned her the Academy Award and Golden Globes for Best Director.
