Chloe Zhao’s Oscar-nominated ‘Nomadland’ spotlights America’s van-dwelling workforce

Oscar-nominated ‘Nomadland’ is about semi-retired Americans living off the grid in dilapidated vans

Of the 11.2 million RV owners in the United States, about 1.5 per cent are ‘full-timers’

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Frances McDormand in ‘Nomadland’, a film about a woman who becomes a nomad in the wake of the economic recession. Photo: Searchlight Pictures

Published: 12:40pm, 16 Mar 2021Updated: 2:28pm, 29 Apr 2021

US film Nomadland, which earned six Oscar nominations on Monday, tells the story of a woman who becomes a nomad in the wake of the economic recession – spotlighting a way of life that has seen an explosion of interest in the time of coronavirus.

The US recession drama, which follows the story of an itinerant Amazon warehouse worker who lives in her oversized recreational vehicle (RV), received six nods, including best picture and best director for Chinese-born filmmaker Chloe Zhao.

Of the 11.2 million RV owners in the United States, about 1.5 per cent are “full-timers” and more than half of those continue to work and live with their children, according to the RV Industry Association.

“When the pandemic hit, it brought home the fact that we truly don’t have a place to go,” said Rene Agredano, who decided with her husband to start living in a recreational vehicle in 2007, usually moving to a new spot every month.

When lockdown restrictions at the start of the pandemic forced RV parks and campgrounds to shut down, the couple had to move temporarily to a friend’s property.

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