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Though Chloe Zhao's films are fictional, she incorporates real events into them in a documentary-like style and casts nonprofessional actors who reside in the places that she aims to portray. She also encourages these actors, whether they are teenagers living on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation or adults who travel the country for work, to put as much of themselves into their roles as possible. Her approach adds powerful resonance to films that explore the highly personal experiences of place and home, and often the difficult decision to stay or leave.