Chloé Zhao becomes the 1st woman of color to win the Best Director Oscar

Chloé Zhao.
(Image credit: Chris Pizzello-Pool/Getty Images)

Chloé Zhao has made Academy Awards history.

The Nomadland filmmaker on Sunday won the Oscar for Best Director, making her the first woman of color to ever win this award. In fact, she was the first woman of color to even be nominated for Best Director. Zhao is also just the second woman to win the Best Director Oscar after The Hurt Locker's Kathryn Bigelow.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.