it is called nomadland and it stars frances mcdormand.ady a strong oscar contender, transfixed audiences at this drive—in showing new york festival movies. it is the story of fern, a nomadic woman with a cast that boasts of real—life nomads. directed by chinese film—maker, chloe zhao, it shows a rootlessness set against the backdrop of the american landscape. we wanted fern to be a guide. to be able to bring us into this vast, really rich world of nomadic living. what i have learned is you have to anchor the audience in one person's intimate experience, so they can feel, you know, comfortable, to be able to experience everything else and without getting lost. fern, played by frances mcdormand, is a woman who left her hometown of empire in nevada after economic collapse. there is a childlike quality that we were really interested in for fern, that she has had a very prescribed set of rules living in empire and once she hits the road the possibilities become open and her sense of self sufficiency is tested. frances mcdormand is being widely

frances mcdormand is being widely tipped for a best actress 0scar nomination for her work in nomadlande best actress candidate emerged at the new york film festival. michelle pfeiffer for her highly praised performance as francis in the satire french exit, in which she betrays a new york socialite who flees to paris with her son. it is this sort of, you know, odd world, filled with these odd people, who are sort of in some ways like into people marooned on an island who end up finding each other. french exit is directed by azazeljacobs, who is clearly smitten with his leading lady. for me, what michelle does is near impossible in the film. i have been watching, living with this film now for the past year, since i shot it and watching it, as you do, backwards and forwards and frame by frame and i still cannot get over what she brought to frances. the new york film festival, as have several other festivals, have showed the indian film, the disciple, to great acclaim. it is a story set in the world of indian classical music and the central character is a young vocalist in mumbai who is tr