Alumni
Where IT
ALL BEGAN The Oscar-winning director of Nomadland CHLOÉ ZHAO spent her formative years at Brighton College in East Sussex, where she was encouraged to explore freedom of expression and nurture her creative potential
I
t’s perhaps appropriate that her most successful project to date took on an almost semi-autobiographical quality for American director, producer and writer Chloé Zhao. Zhao is a film-making creative visionary whose ground-breaking film Nomadland scooped multiple awards at the Oscars and Golden Globes, including Best Director. The Beijing-born trailblazer arrived in the UK aged 15 to attend the stylishly grand Brighton College. Situated right in the heart of the seaside city, the institution is just a short walk from the seductive coastline to the south; with the edgy, alternative, hip persuasions of students and residents alike just a mile or so to the west. Her arrival was driven by a thirst for information and discovery, elements she embedded so perfectly in Nomadland. Starring Frances McDormand, the movie arrived at a time when lockdown and isolation were at the forefront of our global society’s protective endeavours; and when the very notion of socialising was something we should be deeply wary of. Perhaps it’s fortunate Zhao didn’t land in the UK in 1997 with the same nervy apprehension lingering in the south-coast air. She might then not have sampled an education that was enriched with freedom, art, creativity and expression. And in turn, Brighton College wouldn’t be able to lay claim to an alumna who is rapidly becoming one of the most influential figures in the cinematic space. It’s a unison that worked, and prompts a shared admiration that continues on to this day. “I don’t remember that much about my education before I moved to the UK. That sounds strange but the method of teaching in China was very different to that of the UK, and after a while spent with something or somewhere, you become used to that
“WHAT I LOVED ABOUT BRIGHTON COLLEGE was not just what I learned there. IT WAS ALSO THE WAY I WAS ENCHANTED BY THIS CITY OF SO MANY CONTRASTS”
s
20
greatbritisheducationmag.com
