Chloé Zhao Makes Golden Globes History: "This Is Why I Fell in Love With Making Movies"

Image Source: Getty / Amanda Edwards

Nomadland director Chloé Zhao's Golden Globes win on Sunday night marked a series of historic firsts. She's not only the first Asian woman and woman of colour to take home the best director win, but also the second woman ever to win a Golden Globe for directing. The first was Barbra Streisand for her work in Yentl back in 1983, which means it took a shocking 38 years for another woman to win the category.

And in a long overdue first, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association nominated three women in the best director category: Zhao, Regina King for One Night in Miami, and Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman." In Zhao's acceptance speech, the Chinese-born filmmaker thanked her fellow nominees for making "beautiful, beautiful movies, the Nomadland family, as well as the nomads who shared their stories with the movie's team.

She went on to share a quote from one nomad from the film, Bob Wells, about compassion. "Compassion is the breakdown of all the barriers between us. A heart-to-heart bonding. Your pain is my pain. It's mingled and shared between us," she read. "Now this is why I fell in love with making movies and telling stories, 'cause it gives us a chance to laugh and cry together and it gives us to learn from each other and have more compassion for each other, so thank you everyone who made it possible for me to do what I love," she continued. While Zhao is well known in the indie film circuit, Nomadland, which also won best motion picture on Sunday evening, marks her biggest project thus far. Watch her full acceptance speech ahead.