Calling the film, which is set to have its world premiere on September 3 at the Venice Film Festival, as "incredible" and "cinematic", the "Nomadland" director hopes that people get to experience it in a theatre.
"I like that! I like to take credit for all of that (laughs). In our case, it was just something that we decided to do because there were so many different challenges," she said.
According to a report in Variety, the popular social media site Weibo censors any mentions of "Nomadland", citing violation of "Chinese laws, regulations and policy".
Zhao was up against Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman), Regina King (One Night in Miami), David Fincher (Mank), and Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7).