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Oscar winner Chloé Zhao: Apparently censored in her homeland
Photo: Pool / Getty Images
China has apparently deleted entries in online networks about the Beijing-born director and newly crowned Oscar winner Chloé Zhao.
All current messages containing Zhao's name or her award-winning film "Nomadland" disappeared in an unexplained manner from the Weibo online service.
There was also no mention of Zhao's Oscar win in the state media.
Zhao was first celebrated by the Chinese media in March for her success at the Golden Globes.
However, when internet users circulated old interviews in which she apparently criticized her country of birth, numerous Chinese cinemas stopped the planned release of their film.
In her Oscar speech, Zhao seemed to allude to these difficulties: "I've been thinking a lot lately about how to proceed when things get complicated," she said.
She also quoted a line from a Chinese poem: "People are basically good when they are born."
Numerous users celebrated Zhao on Monday morning on Weibo before their entries disappeared from the online network.
Zhao became the second woman and first non-white director to receive an Oscar for directing.
Her road movie "Nomadland" was the big winner at this year's awards ceremony in Los Angeles: The social drama about work nomads in the USA also won the Oscar for best film.
The main actress Frances McDormand was also honored.
kae / AFP
