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50 free Nomadland trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Nomadland trivia quiz covers Chloé Zhao's 2020 Best Picture winner and Jessica Bruder's book behind it. It follows Fern from the shuttered US Gypsum plant in Empire, Nevada, into her van and across the West: the Amazon warehouse, Bob Wells's desert rendezvous, Swankie's cancer and the stones in the fire, the Badlands campground, Wall Drug, Dave's family in Point Arena and the final walk through the empty town. Behind the scenes it covers Frances McDormand optioning the book, discovering Zhao through The Rider, the four-month shoot with the crew living in vans, the real nomads playing themselves, the Ludovico Einaudi music, the Golden Lion and Toronto double, the Hulu release and the film's disappearance from Chinese screens. It ends with the 93rd Academy Awards at Union Station, where Zhao became the second woman to win Best Director, McDormand won for both acting and producing, and the Best Picture speech ended in a howl. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries before publishing.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who wrote, produced, edited and directed Nomadland?
Chloé Zhao
She became the second woman ever to win the Best Director Oscar.
Q 02Who plays Fern?
Frances McDormand
It was her third Best Actress Oscar, after Fargo and Three Billboards.
Q 03The film is based on a nonfiction book by whom?
Jessica Bruder
It grew out of her Harper's cover story on older Americans doing seasonal work from vans.
Q 04In which Nevada town does Fern lose her job when the plant closes?
Empire
The real company town was shut by US Gypsum in 2011 and its ZIP code discontinued.
Q 05What did the plant in Fern's company town produce?
Gypsum for sheetrock
The town was a US Gypsum company town for 63 years.
Q 06Where does Fern take a seasonal job through the winter?
An Amazon fulfillment center
The book's title for the programme is CamperForce.
Q 07Who organises the desert rendezvous in Arizona that Fern attends?
Bob Wells
The real Wells plays himself and runs the gathering the scenes are based on.
Q 08Which nomad chastises Fern for being unprepared when her tyre blows?
Swankie
They become friends, and Swankie later shares her cancer diagnosis.
Q 09What does the nomad with a cancer diagnosis plan to do rather than waste away in a hospital?
Make good memories on the road
The nomads later toss stones into a campfire in tribute to her.
Q 10At which national park does Fern work as a camp host?
Badlands
It's the Cedar Pass Campgrounds in South Dakota.
Q 11Which South Dakota tourist stop do Fern and Dave take restaurant jobs at?
Wall Drug
Dave's son turns up there to say his wife is pregnant.
Q 12What illness lands Dave in hospital?
Diverticulitis
Fern visits him after his emergency surgery.
Q 13Who plays Dave?
David Strathairn
He was one of the few professional actors in the cast.
Q 14Where does Fern go to borrow money when her van breaks down?
Q 21How did McDormand, Zhao and the crew live during production?
Out of vans
Many real nomads appear as fictionalised versions of themselves.
Q 22Which Marvel film was Zhao preparing while making Nomadland?
Eternals
Marvel hired her in September 2018.
Q 23Which festival gave the film its premiere and Golden Lion?
Venice
It screened at a second festival the same day and won the top prize there too.
Q 24Nomadland was the first film to win the top prize at both the Golden Lion festival and which other?
Her sister's home in California
Her sister asks why she stayed in the company town after her husband died, but calls her brave.
Q 15Where does Dave settle with his son's family?
Point Arena, California
He offers Fern a guest house; she leaves after a few days.
Q 16What does Bob tell Fern about goodbyes in the nomad community?
They're never final; you say 'see you down the road'
He also shares the story of his son's suicide.
Q 17What does Fern do on her final visit to the abandoned town?
Empties her storage unit and visits her old home
Then she returns to the road.
Q 18Which earlier Zhao film convinced McDormand to approach her?
The Rider
McDormand saw it at a 2017 festival and met Zhao at the 2018 Independent Spirit Awards.
Q 19With whom did McDormand option the book's film rights in 2017?
Peter Spears
The two are credited among the film's five producers.
Q 20How long was the shoot?
Four months
Zhao split her time with pre-production on a Marvel film.
Toronto
Toronto's People's Choice Award has a strong record of predicting Best Picture.
Q 25On which streaming service was the film released day-and-date with theatres in the US?
Hulu
It hit Disney+ abroad later in April 2021.
Q 26Which studio distributed the film?
Searchlight Pictures
It was Searchlight's first Best Picture winner under Disney ownership.
Q 27Why was the film pulled from Chinese cinemas?
Old remarks by Zhao about lies being everywhere in her homeland
The Oscars themselves were censored in Chinese media as a result.
Q 28Whose music was used as the film's score?
Ludovico Einaudi
His music also scored The Father the same year.
Q 29What was the film's approximate budget?
$5 million
It grossed $39 million worldwide, mostly outside North America.
Q 30How many Oscars did Nomadland win?
Three
Picture, Director and Actress, from six nominations.