"Nomadland" won best picture on Sunday at the 93rd Academy Awards in Los Angeles, with its filmmaker Chinese-born Chloe Zhao also becoming the first nonwhite woman to scoop the best director prize.
Kathryn Bigelow's victory with "The Hurt Locker" in 2010 was the only previous time a film directed by a woman had won both the best movie and best director awards.
This year's Academy Awards attracted attention for its representation of diversity as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will implement new diversity and inclusion standards for its top award, best picture, which will go into effect in 2024.
Youn Yuh Jung in "Minari" also made history by winning the best actress in a supporting role award, becoming the first South Korean actor or actress to win an Oscar, for her role as an unconventional grandmother.
"I cannot believe I'm here," said Youn in her acceptance speech. "Thank you for the Academy members who voted for me and thank you for the wonderful Minari family."
"And above all, Lee Isaac Chung, without him I couldn't be here tonight. He was our captain and my director so too many thanks to him," she said of the director of "Minari" which follows the story of a Korean family trying to find a home in the United States.
South Korean President Moon Jae In, in a statement posted on his social media, congratulated Youn on her win that "rewrote the 102-year-long Korean film history," and praised her acting for winning "the sympathy of people who have lived in a different culture."
Frances McDormand, who played a widow living in a mobile home in the wake of the U.S. recession in the road movie "Nomadland," won the best actress award, her third, while Anthony Hopkins won his second Oscar for best actor for his performance in "The Father."
The Oscar for best supporting actor went to Daniel Kaluuya, a black British actor in "Judas and the Black Messiah."
Attendance at the ceremony was limited because of coronavirus pandemic protocols.
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