UPPSC 2021 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 129 of 150

Correct — A, Chloe Zhao. At the 93rd Academy Awards (held April 2021), 'Nomadland' won Best Picture, and Chloé Zhao — who directed and also produced and edited the film — won the Oscar for Best Director. She became the first woman of colour, and only the second woman ever, to win Best Director. So she is the director tied to Nomadland's Best Picture/Best Director wins.

• (b)Emerald Fennel — Wrong — Emerald Fennell directed 'Promising Young Woman' and won Best Original Screenplay at the same ceremony; she did not direct Nomadland and did not win Best Director/Picture.
• (c)Lee Issac Chung — Wrong — Lee Isaac Chung directed 'Minari', which earned several nominations (and a Supporting Actress win for Youn Yuh-jung), but it was not Nomadland and he did not win Best Director.
• (d)Thomas Vinterberg — Wrong — Thomas Vinterberg directed 'Another Round', which won Best International Feature Film; he was nominated for Best Director but did not win it, and he did not direct Nomadland.

At the 93rd Academy Awards (2021), 'Nomadland' — a drama about a woman living as a modern-day nomad in the American West — was the big winner, taking Best Picture, Best Director (Chloé Zhao) and Best Actress (Frances McDormand). Zhao's Best Director win was historic as the first for a woman of colour.

The distractors are all real, prominent 2021 nominees, which is the trap. Anchor on 'Nomadland → Chloé Zhao' and remember she swept the top directing and picture honours that year.

• 93rd Academy Awards (2021): Nomadland won Best Picture; Chloé Zhao won Best Director.
• Frances McDormand won Best Actress for Nomadland (and was a producer of the Best Picture win).
• Chloé Zhao was the first woman of colour and second woman ever to win Best Director.
• Other 2021 nominees: Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman), Lee Isaac Chung (Minari), Thomas Vinterberg (Another Round — Best International Feature).

• Picking another 2021 nominee (Fennell/Chung/Vinterberg) who won a different Oscar category
• Confusing Best Director with Best Picture — Zhao won Best Director and Nomadland won Best Picture

UPSC/UPPSC current-affairs ask who won a named Oscar, or match a film to its director/award for a given year.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  For which film did Chloé Zhao win the 2021 Academy Award for Best Director?

  • (a)Minari
  • (b)Nomadland
  • (c)The Father
  • (d)Promising Young Woman

  Answer(b) Nomadland — which also won Best Picture at the 93rd Academy Awards.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The 2021 Academy Award for Best International Feature Film went to 'Another Round', directed by:

  • (a)Thomas Vinterberg
  • (b)Bong Joon-ho
  • (c)Emerald Fennell
  • (d)Lee Isaac Chung

  Answer(a) Thomas Vinterberg — the Danish film Another Round won Best International Feature.