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Chloé Zhao Makes History as Fifth Woman Ever to Win Golden Lion Venice Film Festival for ‘Nomadland’

The film stars Frances McDormand as a widow who takes to life on the road in her van.

Director Chloé Zhao, previously known for directing Marvel’s upcoming Avengers add-on The Eternals, took the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival Saturday, the showcase’s top honor. She’s the fifth woman in the festival’s 88-year run to do so, according to The Hollywood Reporter’s Rebecca Keegan. Zhao’s film, Nomadland, stars Frances McDormand as a widow who leaves a derelict Nevada mining town for a life in her van on the road. The movie takes its inspiration and title from a 2017 work of nonfiction, Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century and is slated for North American release December 4. Venice attendees wore masks throughout screenings to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, and some winners accepted prizes via videoconference.