Filmmaker
Chloé
Zhao's
Nomadland
is
one
of
the
most
talked-about
films
of
the
2021
award
season.
The
film
that
premiered
at
the
Venice
Film
Festival,
won
several
awards
last
year
including
Golden
Lion,
and
more
than
one
Golden
Globe
and
Critics
Choice
Awards.
The
film
has
also
been
nominated
for
93rd
Academy
Awards
in
six
categories
including
Best
Director,
Best
Picture,
Best
Actress
and
more.
Nomadland
starring
Frances
McDormand
in
the
lead
role,
follows
Fern,
a
woman
in
her
sixties
who
has
lost
her
job
and
means
of
living
during
the
Great
Recession.
She
then
embarks
on
a
journey
through
the
American
West,
living
as
a
van-dwelling
modern-day
nomad.
The
film
also
stars
several
non-actors
and
real-life
nomads
Linda
May,
Swankie
and
Bob
Wells,
who
help
in
Fern's
journey
across
Western
America.
The
film
adapted
from
Jessica
Bruder's
2017
non-fiction
book
of
the
same
name,
explores
Fern's
journey
as
she
slowly
beings
to
find
comfort
and
meaning
in
the
people
she
meets.
The
film
has
been
praised
by
international
critics
for
the
lead
actress'
performance
and
storytelling.
Peter
Bradshaw
of
The
Guardian,
claimed
that
the
film
looks
like
a
super
positive
version
of
Mad
Max.
Somewhat
comparing
Nomadland
to
the
post-apocalyptic
film,
Peter
said
he
waited
for
"inevitable
incursion
by
violent
Hells
Angels
or
sneery
materialists,
but
it
never
happened." While
following
the
nomads
the
film
looks
like
a
tour
of
a
deserted
planet
but
"this
isn't
quite
a
post-apocalypse
film.
the
nomads
find
work
and
their
lives
have
a
kind
of
purpose,
even
a
nobility."
The
New
York
Times'
AO
Scott
said
Zhao's
film
oscillates
between
friendship
and
solitude.
"It
has
a
loose,
episodic
structure,
and
a
mood
of
understated
toughness
that
matches
the
ethos
it
explores.
To
some
degree,
"Nomadland"
wishes
to
be
settled
-
wants
not
necessarily
to
domesticate
its
heroine,
but
at
least
to
bend
her
journey
into
a
more-or-less
predictable
arc."
Scott
added
that
the
film
contradicts
most
American
movies
that
are
willing
to
permit
to
conventional
happy
endings.
Meanwhile,
Peter
Debruge
from
Variety
said
the
film
is
Zhao's
way
of
introducing
nomads
to
the
world,
"In
her
non-judgemental
way." He
added,
"Zhao
invites
audiences
to
decide
for
themselves
what
they
make
of
Fern's
lifestyle,
which
comes
with
certain
dangers:
She
could
freeze
to
death
in
her
van,
food
and
first
aid
are
sometimes
hard
to
find,
and
certain
aspects
of
her
behavior
might
suggest
mental
health
issues.
Some
people
need
structure,
while
others
abhor
complacency.
Fern
hasn't
necessarily
decided.
She's
still
testing
the
waters
of
a
nomadic
existence,
so
we
learn
as
she
does,
collecting
suggestions
from
those
more
experienced".
The
Oscar-nominated
film
Nomadland
released
in
India
on
April
2,
2021.