Chinese director Chloe Zhao walked away as the winner of the Best Picture honors at the National Society of Film Critics. Her movie, "The Rider," won as 2018's best film as voted by group's members in the United States.
"The Rider" garnered 44 member votes for Best Picture and beat the favorite, Alfonso Cuaron's "Roma," by a few points (41). However, the film critics picked Cuaron as the Best Director while Zhao was on top 3.
"The Rider" is a contemporary Western film about a rodeo star named Brady Blackburn whose career met an abrupt stop because of an accident. Brady Jandreau wrote the screenplay and also played the lead character.
Mainstream audiences failed to take notice of the film when it ran in theaters in the middle of 2018. However, "The Rider" received raves at the Cannes Film Festival in May and earned dozens of nominations from different award-giving bodies, including the Independent Spirit Awards and the National Society of Film Critics.
The society, which was founded in 1966, described "The Rider" as a standout not just because of its complicated and deep story but because of Zhao's abilities. She uses a mix of realism and dramatization to tell the stories, and she is often fond of hiring non-professional actors so that her work looks organic and authentic.
Zhao, also known as Zhao Ting in China, hails from Beijing and studied in both London and Los Angeles. Ever since she was younger, Zhao had interest in Western pop culture even as she studied political science for college. She later studied filmmaking at New York University to become a prolific indie filmmaker.
In 2010, Zhao released her first short film, "Daughters" which received honors at the Palm Springs International Festival and the Cinequest Film Festival. She also directed "Song My Brothers Taught Me" that earned raves at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015.
Her next project is for Amazon Studios for its streaming platform. It will be a biopic on Bass Reeves, the first African-American U.S. Deputy Marshall, as per Deadline.
Meanwhile, the National Society of Film Critics has also chosen Olivia Colman ("The Favourite") and Ethan Hawke ("First Reformed") for the Best Actress and Best Actor honors. Steven Yeun ("Burning") and Regina King ("If Beale Street Could Talk") were named Best Supporting Actor and Actress respectively. Director Bing Liu, on the other hand, was honored for his documentary film "Minding the Gap."
