<p>Chloe Zhao's US road movie <em>Nomadland </em>has stoked controversy in China, but it will be "another few years" before the Beijing-born director will dare tackle her childhood roots on screen, she told the Santa Barbara International Film Festival Tuesday.</p>.<p>Oscar frontrunner <em>Nomadland </em>is the latest of Zhao's films set in the US "heartland," and follows van-dwelling Americans left on society's margins by the Great Recession as they roam sparsely populated states like South Dakota and Nebraska.</p>.<p>It has already dominated top prizes including the Golden Globes but has faced a backlash in China, after social media users and state media questioned Zhao's loyalty to her birth country.</p>.<p><strong>Also read:</strong> <strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/entertainment/nomadland-movie-review-frances-mcdormand-starrer-is-a-captivating-drama-969369.html" target="_blank">'Nomadland' movie review: Frances McDormand-starrer is a captivating drama</a></strong><br /><br />Some even called her a "traitor" after digging up a years-old interview with Australian media in which she allegedly said "the US is now my country."</p>.<p>Asked during a virtual panel with three fellow best director Oscar nominees if she would consider making a film in China or about her youth, Zhao said it was "scariest to dig into your own past."</p>.<p>"I feel like I would have to think about teenage angst and all that stuff, and back home," she said. "It's going to take another few years. I think I need to mature more, to not be afraid to look at myself."</p>.<p>Telling stories about other people is "safer for me," she added, while paying tribute to the courage of Lee Isaac Chung's childhood-inspired, Korean-American immigrant drama "Minari."</p>.<p>"I don't have that courage yet. So I think it's very brave what you did," she told Chung.</p>.<p>Zhao, 39, was born to a wealthy Chinese steel company executive, and left China as a teen to attend a British boarding school before finishing her education in Los Angeles and New York.</p>.<p>While at film school in New York she stumbled upon images of an Indian reservation in South Dakota, which led to her first film "Songs My Brothers Taught Me."</p>.<p>"I was getting into my late 20s and I felt a bit disconnected to myself, to be honest, and not... able to hear my own voice," said Zhao.</p>.<p>"And when that happens, people tend to go west... west of wherever they are, and for me it was going to the heartland.</p>.<p>"And I ended up in South Dakota, and really fell in love with the Badlands," she said, referring a national park in the midwestern state best known for Mount Rushmore.</p>.<p>Asked what she most looked forward to doing once the pandemic is over, Zhao said she would like to visit relatives back home.</p>.<p>"I miss international travel -- I miss going back to China, going home to see my family," she said.</p>.<p>"And to eat the food that I can digest."</p>.<p>The Santa Barbara International Film Festival runs until Saturday.</p>
<p>Chloe Zhao's US road movie <em>Nomadland </em>has stoked controversy in China, but it will be "another few years" before the Beijing-born director will dare tackle her childhood roots on screen, she told the Santa Barbara International Film Festival Tuesday.</p>.<p>Oscar frontrunner <em>Nomadland </em>is the latest of Zhao's films set in the US "heartland," and follows van-dwelling Americans left on society's margins by the Great Recession as they roam sparsely populated states like South Dakota and Nebraska.</p>.<p>It has already dominated top prizes including the Golden Globes but has faced a backlash in China, after social media users and state media questioned Zhao's loyalty to her birth country.</p>.<p><strong>Also read:</strong> <strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/entertainment/nomadland-movie-review-frances-mcdormand-starrer-is-a-captivating-drama-969369.html" target="_blank">'Nomadland' movie review: Frances McDormand-starrer is a captivating drama</a></strong><br /><br />Some even called her a "traitor" after digging up a years-old interview with Australian media in which she allegedly said "the US is now my country."</p>.<p>Asked during a virtual panel with three fellow best director Oscar nominees if she would consider making a film in China or about her youth, Zhao said it was "scariest to dig into your own past."</p>.<p>"I feel like I would have to think about teenage angst and all that stuff, and back home," she said. "It's going to take another few years. I think I need to mature more, to not be afraid to look at myself."</p>.<p>Telling stories about other people is "safer for me," she added, while paying tribute to the courage of Lee Isaac Chung's childhood-inspired, Korean-American immigrant drama "Minari."</p>.<p>"I don't have that courage yet. So I think it's very brave what you did," she told Chung.</p>.<p>Zhao, 39, was born to a wealthy Chinese steel company executive, and left China as a teen to attend a British boarding school before finishing her education in Los Angeles and New York.</p>.<p>While at film school in New York she stumbled upon images of an Indian reservation in South Dakota, which led to her first film "Songs My Brothers Taught Me."</p>.<p>"I was getting into my late 20s and I felt a bit disconnected to myself, to be honest, and not... able to hear my own voice," said Zhao.</p>.<p>"And when that happens, people tend to go west... west of wherever they are, and for me it was going to the heartland.</p>.<p>"And I ended up in South Dakota, and really fell in love with the Badlands," she said, referring a national park in the midwestern state best known for Mount Rushmore.</p>.<p>Asked what she most looked forward to doing once the pandemic is over, Zhao said she would like to visit relatives back home.</p>.<p>"I miss international travel -- I miss going back to China, going home to see my family," she said.</p>.<p>"And to eat the food that I can digest."</p>.<p>The Santa Barbara International Film Festival runs until Saturday.</p>