Nomadland's Chloé Zhao further cemented herself as the favorite to win Best Director at the 93rd Academy Awards on Saturday when she won the top prize at the 73rd annual Directors Guild of America Awards. She is only the second woman (Kathryn Bigelow won for The Hurt Locker in 2009), and the first woman of color, to earn the DGA award, Variety notes.
Zhao will likely be taking home more hardware this awards season; in addition to her expected Oscars win, Nomadland is the top contender for Best Picture. But she clearly isn't one for gloating. In her virtual acceptance speech, Zhao spoke briefly, using most of her time to praise her fellow nominees, including Minari's Lee Isaac Chung, Promising Young Woman's Emerald Fennell, Mank's David Fincher, and Trial of the Chicago 7's Aaron Sorkin, the only one of the four who isn't also up against Zhao later this month at the Oscars (Another Round's Thomas Vinterberg is the fifth nominee). She took a moment to specifically address how each of her peers and their respective films affected her personally. Watch the heartfelt speech below.
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