Christopher Nolan
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Christopher Edward Nolan CBE (born 30 July 1970) is a British and American > filmmaker.
Nolan developed an interest in filmmaking from a young age. After studying English literature at University College London, he made several short films before his feature film debut with Following (1998). Nolan gained international recognition with his second film, Memento (2000), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He transitioned from independent to studio filmmaking with Insomnia (2002), and found further critical and commercial success with The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005–2012), The Prestige (2006) and Inception (2010); the last of these earned Nolan two Oscar nominations—Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. This was followed by Interstellar (2014), Dunkirk (2017), Tenet (2020) and Oppenheimer (2023). For Dunkirk, he earned two Academy Award nominations, including his first for Best Director.
Nolan's work regularly features in the listings of best films of their respective decades. They are typically characterised by themes relating to epistemology and existentialism. Infused with a metaphysical outlook, they explore ethics, the construction of time, and the malleable nature of memory and personal identity. His work is permeated with mathematically-inspired images and concepts, unconventional narrative structures, practical special effects, experimental soundscapes, large-format film photography, and materialistic perspectives. He has co-written several of his films with his brother Jonathan, and runs the production company Syncopy Inc. with his wife, Emma Thomas.