Nomadland on Sunday made Golden Globes history, as Chloe Zhao (趙婷) became the first female director to win the awards’ top prize for best drama, putting her film about marginalized Americans roaming the West in vans into Oscars pole position.
Zhao also bagged the best director award, making her only the second woman to do so in the history of Hollywood’s traditional awards season opener, which was a mainly virtual ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The late Chadwick Boseman won best actor for the 1920s blues drama Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, six months after his death from cancer at age 43, in a night of emotional moments interspersed with technical glitches, awkward jokes and a row over the lack of diversity among event organizers.
Photo: AP
Semi-fictional film Nomadland stars Oscar winner Frances McDormand alongside a rag-tag bunch of non-actors who truly live on the open road, working mostly menial jobs to scrape by off the grid.
“For everyone who has gone through this difficult and beautiful journey at some point in their lives — this is for you. We don’t say goodbye. We say see you down the road,” said Beijing-born Zhao, 38.
“Sometimes a first feels like a long time coming — you feel like it’s about time. I’m sure there’s many others before me that deserve the same recognition,” she told journalists in a virtual press room of her historic win.
Photo: AP
Usually a star-packed party that draws Tinseltown’s biggest names to a California hotel ballroom, this pandemic edition of the Globes was broadcast from identical sets at the Beverly Hilton and New York’s Rainbow Room, with essential workers and a few A-list presenters among the few in attendance.
The night’s most poignant moment came with the win for Black Panther actor Boseman.
“He would thank his ancestors for their guidance and their sacrifice,” said his widow, Taylor Simone Ledward, accepting on his behalf.
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, a sequel about the fictional Kazakh journalist, won the comedy section’s best film and best actor prizes for creator Sacha Baron Cohen.
“Hold on, [former US president] Donald Trump is contesting the result. He claimed a lot of dead people voted, which is a very rude thing to say about the HFPA,” Cohen joked, referring to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organizes the Globes.
Best comedy actress went to Rosamund Pike for Netflix’s dark thriller I Care A Lot.
The biggest upset came as Andra Day won best drama actress for her portrayal of the legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday in The United States vs. Billie Holiday.
Comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler — hosting from opposite coasts — opened the ceremony making fun of the HFPA, which has been under mounting pressure for its lack of diversity.
“The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is made up of around 90 — no black — journalists that attend movie junkets each year, in search for a better life,” Fey said.
Three senior HFPA officials took the Globes stage early in the night, pledging “a more inclusive future,” after several influential showbiz groups had piled on criticism, including Hollywood’s actors and directors unions.
Jodie Foster won best supporting actress for Guantanamo legal drama The Mauritanian, while Korean-American immigrant family drama Minari won the Globe for best foreign language film.
In the television categories, the latest season of The Crown continued the show’s multiyear dominance at the Globes, with three acting awards and best drama series honors.
Netflix scored further wins for The Queen’s Gambit for best limited series and best actress with Anya Taylor-Joy, while Schitt’s Creek followed up its Emmys sweep with best TV comedy.
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