Christopher Nolan wins first Oscar for directing ‘Oppenheimer’ – Chicago Tribune

Christopher Nolan won his first award, achieving frontrunner status at the awards ceremony. Oscar He directed “Oppenheimer” on Sunday night.

The 53-year-old British visionary has received critical acclaim throughout his career but has never won an Oscar until now. He was nominated for directing for 2017’s “Dunkirk,” 2010 for “Inception” and 2001’s original screenplay for “Memento.”

Nolan beats Jonathan Glazer with “The Zone of Interest”, Yorgos Lanthimos with “Poor Things”, Martin Scorsese with “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Justine Triet with “Anatomy of a Fall” . Scorsese, at 81, was the oldest. guides the candidate.

Nolan was applauded by his wife, Emma Thomas, who twice shared best picture nominations with her husband for the producers of “Dunkirk” and “Inception.” The college sweethearts have co-produced all of their films since 1997.

Nolan was at the forefront throughout the awards season, winning the grand prize from the Directors Guild of America as well as directing awards at the BAFTA Film Awards and the Golden Globes.

In addition to directing, Nolan earned nominations for adapted screenplay and best picture for “Oppenheimer,” an ambitious, three-hour, R-rated epic about the American physicist who developed the atomic bomb. The film earned a leading 13 nominations and grossed nearly $1 billion worldwide.

The auteur filmmaker is known for a style that favors documentary-style lighting, hand-held cameras, and on-location shooting over closed studios. He was regularly praised by many of his contemporaries, including Scorsese, who hailed Nolan for creating “beautifully made films on a grand scale.”

His other credits include “Tenet,” “Interstellar” and the Batman trilogy “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises.”