Chloé Zhao, born in Beijing in 1982, is a Chinese filmmaker who moved to the US as a teenager and later studied at Mount Holyoke College and NYU. She first gained critical acclaim for her independent features Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015) and The Rider (2017), but her breakthrough came with Nomadland (2020), which won the Golden Lion at Venice and the Academy Award for Best Picture. For Nomadland, Zhao made history as the second woman and first woman of color to win the Academy Award for Best Director, also taking home directing prizes from the DGA, Golden Globes, and BAFTAs. She then directed the Marvel superhero film Eternals (2021), and her 2025 film Hamnet won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Drama and the BAFTA for Outstanding British Film, while earning her a second Best Director Oscar nomination—making her only the second woman, after Jane Campion, to achieve that feat. Her films often explore themes of displacement, resilience, and the American landscape, reflecting her own cross-cultural journey.