The Chinese American director's film won the top prize at the Venice and Toronto film festivals

Chinese American filmmaker Chloé Zhao has made history by becoming the first Asian woman to be nominated for directing at the Golden Globe Awards.

Zhao was nominated for Nomadland, which won the top prize at the Venice and Toronto film festivals.

She also won best director at the National Society of Film Critics, the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. and the New York Film Critics Circle.

Promising Young Woman director Emerald Fennell and One Night in Miami filmmaker Regina King will go up against Zhao for the Golden Globe award.

Based on the 2017 non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder, Nomadland centres on Fern (Frances McDormand), who travels around America following the death of her husband.

In related news, the Golden Globes has come under fire for categorising Minari as a ‘Foreign Language’ film.