BAFTA 2021: Chloe Zhao declared as Best Director for ‘Nomadland’

The Best Director award at the BAFTA film awards was won by Chloe Zhao for the movie ‘Nomadland’.

Four women featured in the six-person shortlist for the category. Chinese director Chloe Zhao was nominated for her work in ‘Nomadland’, an independent road movie in which a woman leaves home to travel around the American West.

Also Read: BAFTA 2021: ‘Nomadland’ bags the best film award in a virtual ceremony

Also nominated are Shannon Murphy for ‘Babyteeth’, a 2019 Australian coming-of-age drama, Bosnian Jasmila Zbanic for war film ‘Quo Vadis, Aida?’ and Britain’s Sarah Gavron for ‘Rocks’.

‘Rocks’ stars Bukky Bakray as a black London teenager who is left to fend for herself after being abandoned by her mother.

Last year, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts had come under fire after no female directors featured in the nominations.

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Bafta made changes to its voting and membership processes this year. The outstanding British film category was expanded to 10 nominations to increase the focus on domestic works.

The nominations for best director, actor and actress were also expanded from five to six for this year’s awards, which were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.