“Nomadland,” a film about a grief-struck woman traveling through the American West, won the Academy Award for best picture, delivering a major victory for Walt Disney Co. and ending an almost 20-year drought for Hollywood’s biggest studio.
Chloe Zhao, who made “Nomadland,” was crowned best director, becoming the first woman of color to win that award and contributing to an Oscars ceremony that was among the most inclusive in the academy’s history. The acting prizes also honored a diverse pool of talent -- including a Black man and an Asian woman -- six years after the #OscarsSoWhite movement used social media to cast a light on bias in Hollywood.
