Today in the Star section of Disney + debutta Nomadland, the acclaimed film by Chloe Zhao starring Frances McDormand awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and fresh winner at the 2021 edition of the Oscars. On the occasion of its release, here are 5 curiosities not to be missed about the work of the director of Gli Eterni.
- The film is based on the Nomadland book – An investigative tale, written by journalist Jessica Bruder and published in 2017. Starting with a report on the many people in America who find themselves having to choose between paying the rent and eating food, the book focuses on Linda May, a 64-year-old grandmother who lives by traveling in her Jeep.
- With her win in the Best Director category at the 2021 Oscars, Zhao has become the second woman in history to receive such recognition after Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), and consequently the first of Asian origins.
- Most of the cast members are not professional actors, but real nomads or locals where the production took place. Among these the aforementioned Linda May, Charlene Swankie and Bob Wells, who have kept their real names even within the film.
- Frances McDormand ha actually slept in his van during a certain period of filming, but at some point she stopped because “it is much better to pretend to be exhausted than to really be,” as she herself explained to the Hollywood Reporter.
- Empire, the Nevada corporate city featured in the film, is a royal place that was once owned by the US Gypsum Corporation. In 2011 it closed the mine due to the drop in demand for plasterboard, forcing the approximately 300 residents of the city out of the blue to pack their bags and leave the place.
For more information, we leave you to our Nomadland review.
