“Nomadland”, a film written and directed by Chloé Zhao, won this year’s Golden Lion, the top prize, at the 77th edition of the Venice Film Festival, The New York Times reports.

The drama stars Frances McDormand as a woman living as a nomad across America after the recent recession. It is based on the book by the journalist Jessica Bruder.

The festival, which opened September 2 and closed on Saturday, September 12, was the first major international film event since the coronavirus pandemic began. It had strict social distancing measures in place, and visitors were required to wear face masks both indoors and outdoors while on the festival site.

In its 2020 edition, the festival jury chose the Golden Lion winner from a slightly smaller roster of films in the main competition. The lineup lacked the festival’s usual Hollywood blockbusters (last year, Todd Phillips’s “Joker” took home the Golden Lion) and for the first time in a decade an Italian film opened the festival — Daniele Luchetti’s “Lacci,” a marriage drama set in Naples.