NOMADLAND, BORAT 2 WIN TOP AWARDS AT THE GOLDEN GLOBES

LOS ANGELES: “Nomadland” made Golden Globes history on Sunday as Chloe Zhao became the first female director to win the awards’ top prize for best drama, putting her film about marginalised Americans roaming the West in vans into Oscars pole position.

Zhao also bagged the best director Globe, making her only the second woman to do so in the history of Hollywood’s traditional awards season opener, which was a mainly virtual ceremony due to the coronavirus pandemic.The late Chadwick Boseman won best actor for 1920s blues drama “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”, six months after his death, in a night of emotional moments interspersed with technical glitches, awkward jokes and a row over the lack of diversity among event organizers.Semi-fictional film “Nomadland” stars Oscar winner Frances McDormand alongside a ragtag bunch of non-actors who truly live on the open road, working mostly menial jobs to scrape by off the grid.

“For everyone who has gone through this difficult and beautiful journey at some point in their lives — this is for you. We don’t say goodbye. We say see you down the road,” said Beijingborn Zhao, 38. The night’s most poignant moment came with the win for “Black Panther” actor Boseman. “He would thank his ancestors for their guidance and their sacrifice,” said his widow, Taylor Simone Ledward, accepting on his behalf. “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”, a sequel about the fictional Kazakh journalist, won the comedy section’s best film and best actor prizes for creator Sacha Baron Cohen. Best comedy actress went to Rosamund Pike for Netflix’s dark thriller “I Care A Lot”.