Chloé Zhao: From Manga Dreams to Oscar Gold, A Director’s Unique Vision Unfolds

Chloé Zhao, born Zhao Ting in Beijing, China, on March 31, 1982, has forged a remarkable path in filmmaking, blending a deep appreciation for diverse storytelling forms with a distinctly humanistic cinematic style. Her journey, steeped in a passion for Japanese manga and fan fiction from a young age, continues to shape a career marked by groundbreaking success and a unique artistic fingerprint.

Zhao’s early life saw her drawing her own comics and aspiring to be a manga artist until she was 14. This foundational interest persists, as she continues to write fan fiction, albeit under an anonymous pen name. She views comic books as the Western equivalent of manga and believes storytelling, through universal archetypes, is a fundamental way for people to process emotions. These ‘deep, strong, manga roots,’ as she describes them, are intricately woven into her work, including her film Eternals.

Her cinematic approach is renowned for its realism, naturalism, and poetic sensibility, often blurring the lines between documentary and fiction. Zhao masterfully employs non-professional actors, harnesses natural lighting, and utilizes minimal dialogue to craft immersive, deeply human narratives that possess a captivating spontaneity, despite requiring extensive planning. Her camera work is characterized by its observant nature, fluidly shifting between intimate character close-ups and expansive wide shots that highlight the profound relationship between individuals and their environment. This unique visual language, featuring wide-angle lenses and deep focus to juxtapose humanity against nature, has drawn comparisons to filmmaker Terrence Malick. At the heart of her directorial philosophy are empathy and self-awareness, with Steven Spielberg noting her empathy as a ‘superpower.’

Zhao’s connection to Western culture began early; she moved to Brighton, England, for boarding school at age 15 in 1998, navigating a new country with limited English. After completing high school independently in Los Angeles, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in film studies from Mount Holyoke College in 2005. Disillusioned with politics, her experience as a bartender, engaging with people’s life stories, motivated her to pursue filmmaking, leading her to enroll in the Graduate Film Program at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2010.

Her directorial debut, Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015), premiered at Sundance and marked her focus on marginalized communities, specifically Native American life on the Pine Ridge Reservation. She solidified her reputation for blending documentary realism with cinematic lyricism by using non-actors from the filming locations in The Rider (2017). Zhao achieved landmark international success with Nomadland (2020), which earned her the Academy Award for Best Director (making her the first woman of color and second woman ever to do so) and Best Picture. This success led to her foray into major studio blockbusters with Marvel’s Eternals (2021), a project she described as a ‘dream come true’ and an opportunity to infuse her manga influences. She consistently defends the artistic merit of superhero films, asserting that stories should not be dismissed because they are not considered ‘high art.’ Her recent work also includes the historical drama Hamnet (2025), which earned her a second Oscar nomination for Best Director.

Identifying herself as an ‘outsider,’ Chloé Zhao suggests that her neurodivergence contributes to her unique ability to perceive and respond to the emotional states of actors, further enriching her distinctive approach to storytelling.