Well, the fait accompli of the season has finally come to fruition. After looking like the Oscar frontrunner since September of last year, Searchlight Pictures‘ “Nomadland” won Best Picture at the 93rd annual Academy Awards. The event took place at Union Station Los Angeles and the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center, and the award was accepted by the producers of the film, director Chloé Zhao, lead actress Frances McDormand, and Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, and Dan Janvey.
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Clinching Best Picture was the big cap off the evening for the film, but the film didn’t dominate in any major way, even losing the cinematography award many thought was a lock. In total, “Nomadland” won three awards overall: Best Director for Chloé Zhao, Best Actress for Frances McDormand, and Best Picture; perhaps not a huge amount of wins overall, but obviously the key ones that truly count.
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About a woman in her sixties who embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad after losing everything in the Great Recession, “Nomadland” marched through awards season with victorious win after win. One telltale sign about its impending popularity: all the fall film festivals collectively decided to debut the movie in September, including Venice, Telluride, Toronto, and the New York Film Festival.
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“Nomadland” would go on to win the Golden Lion prize at Venice and the coveted People’s Choice Award winner in Toronto, two of the best augurs for Oscars from the festival. “Nomadland” would then go on to win Best Picture at the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs, the Indie Spirit Awards, the AFI Awards, the Director’s Guild Awards (DGA), and the Producer’s Guild Awards (PGA).
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When you consider that domination through the entire season, is it really any wonder “Nomadland” won Best Picture? The film did receive something of a minor backlash online from those that thought it endorsed the labor practices of Amazon and, given that “The Trial Of The Chicago 7” won the Screen Guild Award and a few other key guild prizes, some pundits started to lose faith in its chances. Ultimately, none of those concerns amounted to much, and in retrospect, writers were perhaps trying to invent storylines to make this storyline feel less predictable.
Follow along here for all our coverage of the 93rd Academy Awards.