Despite some controversial omissions, this year's awards season included a slew of firsts, owing in part to Nomadland director Chloé Zhao. Zhao has been nominated for Best Director at the 2021 Academy Awards, making her the first woman of color to be nominated in the category.

With this triumph, Barack Obama's endorsement, and a major Marvel project starring Angelina Jolie on the horizon, 2021 is shaping up to be a banner year for Chloé Zhao.

The films of Chloé Zhao are known for depicting the American West in a documentary-like way. Zhao's entire filmography has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 91 percent, which is a remarkable achievement in and of itself.

Zhao was best known for directing Songs My Brothers Taught Me, Daughters, and the 2017 western The Rider, which won Best Feature at the Gotham Independent Film Awards and made Barack Obama's list of favorite films in 2018.

Before Nomadland became a staple of the 2020 to 2021 awards season, Zhao was best known for directing Songs My Brothers Taught Me, Daughters, and the 2017 western The Rider, which won Best Feature at the Gotham Independent Film Awards and made Barack Obama's list of favorite films in

Zhao's next project is a big one: she'll direct Eternals, a Marvel film starring Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Gemma Chan, Kit Harington, Kumail Nanjiani, and Richard Madden.