Chloé Zhao’s Oscars victory greeted with some praise – and censorship – in China
Nomadland director hailed on social media as the ‘pride of Chinese people’ but posts about her win have since been removed from Weibo
Chloé Zhao made history on Monday becoming the first Asian woman to win an Oscar for best director for her film Nomadland. But in China, Zhao’s country of birth, posts about her victory were removed and Weibo searches for her Chinese name returned results about a low-level official who had volunteered to promote a local Covid-19 vaccination drive.
Zhao’s film also took out best picture, and Frances McDormand won best actress for her leading role. But the success wasn’t enough to end a domestic silencing of Zhao-related news which began last month in response to an old interview for which she was accused of “smearing China”. Within hours of her win at the Oscars, social media posts were being censored.
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