Chinese-born female director Chloe Zhao won Best Director award at 2020 North Carolina Film Critics Association (NCFCA) Awards for film Nomadland on Monday, continuing to sweep the awards circuit in the US.

Zhao became the first female to win the NCFCA Award for Best Director. Her film from Disney's Searchlight Pictures also took home three other top honors of the US critics group's annual awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay for Zhao, Best Actress for Frances McDormand, and Best Cinematography for Joshua James Richards.

Based on Jessica Bruder's 2017 non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century, the film stars two-time Oscar winner McDormand as an out-of-work woman who packs her van and sets off from her small town to travel around the vast landscape of the American West, exploring a life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad.

The 38-year-old filmmaker is racking up audience and critics' awards and accolades, gathering momentum to put her and Nomadland hot on the Oscar contender trail.

Nomadland nabbed the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2020.