Where it all began Oscar-winning

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

It’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. “WHAT I LOVED ABOUT BRIGHTON Her arrival was driven by a thirst for COLLEGE was not just what I learned information and discovery, elements she embedded so perfectly in Nomadland. there. IT WAS ALSO THE WAY I WAS Starring Frances McDormand, the movie ENCHANTED BY THIS CITY OF SO arrived at a time when lockdown and isolation were at the forefront of our global society’s MANY CONTRASTS” 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 s

Charterhouse, Surrey

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Headteacher: Dr Alex Peterken Admissions: admissions@charterhouse.org.uk +44 (0)1483 291500

GENDER/AGES: Boys and girls, 13-18 years FEES: Boarding £41,406 per annum, day boarding £34,218 per annum FAITH: Anglican MOTTO: Deo Dante Dedi – ‘God having given, I gave’ ENTRANCE PROCEDURE: Charterhouse is an academically selective school and admission is by competitive assessment, interview and subject to a reference from a child’s current school.

Campus: The school is set within an inspiring 250-acre campus, conveniently located close to London and within 50 minutes of Heathrow and Gatwick airports. With 17 grass sports pitches, three full sized Astroturf pitches, an athletics track, a sports centre, 24 tennis courts and a nine-hole golf course, not to mention beautiful lawns and gardens. The campus is one of the best, if not the best, in the country. Combined with a 235-seat theatre and separate music performance and art display spaces, the school’s setting encourages pupils to contribute, and provides a safe community in which to explore and grow. Founded in 1611, Charterhouse is one of the UK’s leading independent boarding schools. Academic record: Charterhouse’s academic curriculum promotes academic rigour, develops intellectual curiosity and fosters the ability to learn independently. The curriculum follows the normal path to (I)GCSEs in Year 11, followed by a choice of A Level courses or the IB Diploma Programme in the Sixth Form. The university destinations of leavers reflect both their abilities and the quality of the education provided at the school. Extracurricular: An essential element of a Charterhouse education. With more than 80 different sports and activities, including music, drama and other creative opportunities, all pupils are encouraged to develop existing interests to exciting levels and to take up new ones. The timetable enables all pupils to enjoy themselves across a wide range of sports, creative arts activities and outdoor education programmes, and offers real leadership opportunities with few limits to what can be pursued. “The school is dynamic and crackling with expertise, energy, optimism and unashamed ambition. The future looks very bright indeed.“ - Good Schools Guide

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“EVERYTHING WE LEARNED WAS FOCUSED ON EXPLORING AND EXPLOITING the curiosity of the pupils, which I think is why I loved it so much. THERE WAS SO MUCH LICENCE TO DEVELOP, INVENT AND DISCOVER BY OURSELVES”

Brighton College’s campus is in the heart of the city

particular level of intensity, to the point where you might forget what it was like previously in another country or time.

“It’s a bit like being in a relationship with someone. When that ends and you meet someone else, you forget a lot of the mannerisms of a previous partner. In this sense I think that actually really helped me – moving to the UK was a whole new way of doing things, in totality, not just in the sense of education. It did change me as a person because absolutely everything about my life was different – the location, the culture and, from an educational perspective, the way I was being encouraged to view the world, to explore, to learn. Education in the UK was very different to how it was represented in China.

“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. Our campus was close to the centre, and next to the Royal Sussex Hospital, which was bordered by streets of small, terraced houses. We had the sea in front of us and the Downs behind us; we had the prestigiousness of the Royal Pavilion at the bottom of our road, and the fascination of social housing, small family dwellings, and all manner of demographics around us, and I loved that.

“There’s another very well-known private school, Roedean, just a few miles away from ours, set into the Sussex countryside. It was very beautiful, though I always felt we were luckier to be part of an institution that itself was part of and based in the local community. I wanted to absorb culture from the very first day I moved to the UK – I didn’t want to live in a cocoon of education borders shielded or hidden away from the true personality and nature of a city.

“Everything we learned was focused on exploring and exploiting the curiosity of the pupils, which I think is why I loved it so much.

“There was so much licence to develop, invent and discover by ourselves, and that was an amazing feeling – to have that level of autonomy in the way we learned about the world. I think it’s because of this that I have gone on to do what I have – to be inspired by the blank canvas rather than intimidated by it. Sure enough, as my career has developed it’s also regularly made me want to show my former teachers what it was I learned, and how they encouraged and contributed to the journey I have been on.

“Brighton remains an amazing city built out of so many contradictions. There is a nihilistic quality that runs through its fabric, and that’s what gives it such individuality to the point where I would probably be unable to name another place in the UK that had such a divergence of people and styles and opinions. It was the perfect place for me to discover at the perfect age.

“In education, I think the greatest crime is to stifle creativity, whether that be intentional or not. By this I mean when we put conditions and boundaries around education and learning and curriculums, there’s an intentional method to shape and style the next generation in a certain way, and that profoundly worries me. The worst thing we can do, for ourselves and for our children, is condition them into behaving or imagining the world as if they were robots.

“I think there’s also an unintentional or unconscious stifling of creativity; and by this, I mean young people being swept along by the conventions of the mass media or social media. I feel this is equally dangerous because a desire to conform is actually a reluctance to stand out, and that’s a real shame.”

Chloé became the first woman of colour to win the Best Director Oscar in 2021

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