Nomadland, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, The Crown, win big at 2021 Golden Globes

"Nomadland," directed by Chloe Zhao, "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" and "The Crown" were among the big winners at the 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards Sunday night, reported Xinhua.

Zhao's feature film "Nomadland," which saw four nominations, won Best Motion Picture-Drama, while Zhao won Best Director, becoming the second woman to win that prize after Barbra Streisand won it in 1983 for "Yentl."

Zhao, who was born in 1982 in China's capital Beijing, noted in her speech after winning Best Director that compassion plays a unique role in fostering understanding, saying "compassion is the breakdown of all the barriers between us -- a heart-to-heart bonding."

"Your pain is my pain; it's mingled and shared between us," she said.

"This is why I fell in love with making movies and telling stories," said the director, screenwriter and producer.

Zhao's win was cheered on by Streisand, who tweeted: "It's about time! Congratulations Chloe! Well deserved!"

Zhao is the first woman of Chinese and Asian descent to win the best director award in Golden Globes history.

Zhao went to the United States as a teenager. Her debut feature film, "Songs My Brothers Taught Me" released in 2015, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and earned a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature.

Zhao's second feature film, "The Rider" released in 2017, received nominations for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Film and Best Director. And "Nomadland" nabbed the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2020.

According to a report on Feb. 15 by Variety, a leading global entertainment magazine, Zhao has won 34 awards for directing, 13 for her screenplays and nine for editing this awards season, becoming the most decorated filmmaker in a single awards season in the modern era.

Run by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards honors the best in American television and film.

The virtual ceremony, which was postponed for nearly two months amid the COVID-19 pandemic, took place live from both New York City and Los Angeles.

Among Sunday night's winners across 25 categories, "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm," a comedy directed by Jason Woliner in his feature directorial debut, also won two awards, Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for star Sacha Baron Cohen.

For other big film prizes, Chadwick Boseman, who fought with colon cancer from 2016 and continued to act until his death from complications related to the illness last August, was posthumously awarded Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama for his final performance in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." Meanwhile, Andra Day won Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama for her performance in "The United States vs. Billie Holiday."

In the field of television, "The Crown" took home four awards, and "Schitt's Creek" and "The Queen's Gambit" each received two. Both "The Crown" and "The Queen's Gambit" were produced by Netflix Inc., which picked up 10 Globes this year.

Disney and Pixar's Soul picked up a pair of trophies for Best Animated Film and Best Original Score.

The night also featured two honorary prizes for television and film. The Carol Burnett Award went to television legend Norman Lear, while the Cecil B. DeMile Award was given to American actress and activist Jane Fonda.