Disney’s Searchlight has scheduled awards contender Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” for a Feb. 19, 2021, launch in North America.
“Nomadland” premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 11 and won the Golden Lion. The film is set after the economic collapse of a company town in rural Nevada, with Frances McDormand’s character Fern exploring a life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad. Fern lost everything in the Great Recession and seeks the wisdom and hospitality of real-life nomads in the U.S. The film also stars David Strathairn and Peter Spears.
Variety’s Peter Debruge wrote in his “Nomadland” review, “If road movies have an intrinsic weakness, it’s the episodic nature of their narratives, but ‘Nomadland’ solves that beautifully, creating a pattern in which the path is more circular than linear, and impactful characters come back around to more deeply enrich Fern’s journey.”
The movie also won the People’s Choice award at the Toronto International Film Festival. The Golden Lion win made Zhao the first female filmmaker to take home the prize since Sofia Coppola won with “Somewhere” in 2010. “Nomadland” also won best film, best director and best cinematography at the Boston Society of Film Critics Awards and is nominated for best feature at the 2021 Gotham Independent Spirit Awards, along with McDormand for best actress. McDormand won best actress at the Academy Awards for “Fargo” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”
Disney announced the date on Tuesday. The studio also said it has removed the 20th Century Studios drag queen teenage musical “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” from its Feb. 26, 2021, release date.