Five Years After Its Oscar Win, Nomadland Feels Forgotten

Five years after its Oscar wins, Nomadland’s quiet achievement often feels overlooked. Chloé Zhao became the third woman to win Best Director for the film, which also took Best Actress and Best Picture, winning three of its six nominations after premiering at Venice and earning the Golden Lion.

At the time some dismissed it as an arthouse pick; in the years since its subdued approach has been overshadowed by louder moments at subsequent ceremonies. Frances McDormand plays Fern, whose husband dies and who loses her job at US Gypsum after the plant and the company town of Empire, Nevada close in 2011.

She sells her belongings, buys a van and begins living as a nomad, taking seasonal work at an Amazon fulfillment plant, as a camp host and at a sugar beet processing plant while getting to know other nomads along the way. Zhao treats the story with a cinéma vérité sensibility, often using non-professional actors and favoring observation over conventional plot.

United States, Empire, Nevada

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