‘Nomadland’ wins the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival

“Nomadland,” a film directed by Chinese film director Chloe Zhao won this year’s Golden Lion, the top prize, at the 77th edition of the Venice Film Festival.

According to media outlets including The Associated Press, the Venice Film Festival announced that the film based on a novel under the same title was the winner of the award before closing on Saturday (local time). This film depicted life of a woman in her 60s who wanders around the western U.S. on a van during the economic recession caused by the 2008 financial crisis. Frances McDormand who won the best leading actress award twice at the Academy Awards with “Fargo” in 1997 and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” in 2018 took the leading role for the film. Zhao is currently directing a Marvel film “The Eternals,” which features Korean actor Ma Dong-seok as Gilgamesh, one of the leading actors.

British actress Vanessa Kirby won the best actress award with “Pieces of a Woman,” and Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino won the best actor award with “Padrenostro.” Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa won the best director award with “Wife of a Spy.” Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco’s “Nuevo Orden” was awarded with the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize.


Go-Ya Choi best@donga.com