BOOK TALK
And the Oscar goes to ... Jessica Bruder
The best films are based on books, according to a UK poll, and ‘Nomadland’ looks set to give it credence
It’s Oscar season and the front-runner this year is Nomadland, which received six nominations — best picture, best director (Chloé Zhao), best actress (Frances McDormand), best adapted screenplay (based on the book of the same name by Jessica Bruder), best cinematography and best film editing.
The book, Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century, was optioned for its film rights. Published in 2017, it is a brilliant, non-fiction, investigative piece by journalist Bruder which follows a group of older people who decide to live a transient life, looking for seasonal work and living wherever they find it. The film uses this as a jump-off point.
At its centre is a fictional character named Fern (McDormand), who loses her husband, work and home and decides to hit the road, live in her van and look for temporary employment at Amazon. She becomes involved with a group of nomads who set up makeshift homes and communities...
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