Chloe Zhao first woman to win Palm Springs Director of the Year Award

Chloe Zhao is to become the first woman to receive the Palm Springs International Film Festival's Director of the Year Award in recognition of her film Nomadland.

“Director and screenwriter Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland is a film that captures the triumph of the human spirit,” Festival Chairman Harold Matzner enthused in an announcement published by Variety.

“This extremely unique and well done film captures the grand landscapes of the American West as it follows Fern, played by Frances McDormand, who hits the road in her camper van moving from one real encampment of present day nomads to another," he went on.

Proclaiming Nomadland to be one of the most accomplished films of the year, Matzner confirmed the prestigious prize would be awarded to Zhao, and acknowledged she was its first female honouree.

Zhao's win places her alongside previous directors who have gone on to be nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards, including Steve McQueen, Quentin Tarantino, and Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who took home the gong for Birdman in 2014.

Although there will be no in-person formalities this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, organisers will hold a virtual ceremony to honour Zhao, as well as Carey Mulligan, who has claimed the International Star Award for her performance in Promising Young Woman, and Gary Oldman, who is picking up the Chairman's Award for his role in Mank.