Chloé Zhao has stirred up an incredibly emotional response as the first Asian woman to bag the BAFTAs' prestigious Best Director award.
The Chinese-born filmmaker, 39, made history last night after her critically acclaimed drama Nomadland was honored with four of the ceremony's most coveted prizes. These include the Best Director gong and the awards for Best Actress, Best Film and Best Cinematography.
Nomadland, a drama about a woman who lives in a van in the American West following the financial crash, has been a real standout this awards season.
And it goes without saying that yesterday's unprecedented win has inspired a hell of a lot of pride in Zhao's community. But also amongst those of us who do not share her East Asian heritage – including me.
To anyone who has ever felt marginalized, Zhao represents the idea that we can break free from the stifling expectations society places on us – despite how difficult that might seem.
As a person of color who has felt defined by my race and its associated stereotypes, I know all too well how easy it can be to feel trapped by people's often false preconceptions of the person I "must" be.
East Asian stereotypes, in particular, do not lend themselves well to success within the entertainment industry. As the common generalizations go, Asian people are supposedly all math geniuses, they're quiet, docile and never ones to want the spotlight.
The thing is, people of color are never just individuals with our own idiosyncrasies – often, we're an idea or a cliché.
And while it might seem obvious that anyone regardless of their background is able to achieve greatness, the reality is that these stereotypes can be hard for many to overlook.
The Asian community in particular has suffered some awful setbacks in the last 12 months. Over the last year, particularly as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, there has been a sharp rise in violent attacks against Asian people in many parts of the US.
Victims of these unprovoked attacks have included the elderly as well as young people simply going about their lives amid an already bleak and life-altering pandemic.
The soaring hate crimes have since prompted a movement called Stop Asian Hate. The movement was born out of the tragic shootings in Georgia last month that killed eight people, six of whom were Asian women.
In the wake of the harrowing killings inflicted on the community recently, it's not hard to see why – for many Asian people – Zhao's recognition is somewhat of a silver lining and a step in the right direction.
We should never underestimate how important it is to recognize people from marginalized groups for their talent and hard work. Particularly when that involves shattering harmful stereotypes in the process.
Fortunately, it seems that we are on the right track, In fact, Zhao's BAFTAs win comes over a month after she became the first Asian woman to win the award for Best Director at the Golden Globes.
Reflecting back on last month's historic victory, she told Variety: "Sometimes a first feels like a long time coming. You feel like it's about time. I'm sure [there are] many others before me that deserved the same recognition.
"I just love what I do. I just really love it. If this means more people like me get to live their dream and get to do what I do – I'm happy."
Of course, it should also be noted that the talented filmmaker is not only the first East Asian woman to snag the Best Director award at the BAFTAs last night, but she's also the second woman overall to do so.
In fact, her victory comes over a decade after Kathryn Bigelow made history as the first woman to win Best Director for The Hurt Locker in 2010.
But now, in 2021, the BAFTAs has a new achievement to take pride in – an achievement that is just as momentous as Bigelow's incredible win more than ten years ago.
Accepting her award last night, the humble director and producer said nothing of her unprecedented win but instead dedicated the award "to the nomadic community who so generously welcomed us into their lives."
She went onto say: "They shared with us their dreams, their struggles, and their deep sense of dignity. Thank you for showing us that aging is a beautiful part of life, a journey that we should all cherish and celebrate. How we treat our elders says a lot about who we are as a society and we need to do better."
Nomadland follows a woman in her sixties who loses all she has in the recession and embarks on an adventure in which she explores the American West. The film stars Frances McDormand who was honored with Best Actress gong at yesterday's awards ceremony.
The critically acclaimed picture is a firm favorite to scoop up some of the most prestigious prizes at the Oscars later this month.
So, who knows, we may be just weeks away from yet another historic victory – at the Academy Awards, no less.
