British and American filmmaker Christopher Nolan has received many awards and honours throughout his career. He has won two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, one Golden Globe Award, three Critics Choice Awards, one Directors Guild of America Award, one Producers Guild of America Awards, and one Writers Guild of America Awards. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours for his services to film. In 2024, Nolan received the British Film Institute Fellowship for his "extraordinary achievements and enormous contribution to cinema."
At the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, Nolan and his brother Jonathan won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for Memento, and in 2003 Nolan received the Sonny Bono Visionary Award from the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Festival executive director Mitch Levine said, "Nolan had in his brief time as a feature film director, redefined and advanced the very language of cinema". He was named an Honorary Fellow of UCL in 2006, and conferred an honorary doctorate in literature (DLit) in 2017. In 2009, the director received the Board of the Governors Award from the American Society of Cinematographers. In 2011 Nolan received the Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award from American Cinema Editors. That year he also received the Modern Master Award, the highest honour presented by the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. In addition, Nolan was the recipient of the inaugural VES Visionary Award from the Visual Effects Society.
In 2012 he became the youngest director to be honoured with a hand-and-footprint ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.Christopher Nolan Hand and Footprint Ceremony, EW Magazine Nolan received the first-ever Founder's Award from Slamdance Film Festival in 2014. The Art Directors Guild selected Nolan as the recipient of its Cinematic Imagery Award in 2015, an honour bestowed upon those whose body of work has "richly enhanced the visual aspects of the movie-going experience". He was selected as the 2015 Class Day speaker at Princeton University and was awarded the Empire Inspiration Award at the 20th Empire Awards. In the following years he received the FIAF Award from the archival community, and the inaugural Vanguard Award from The Digital Entertainment Group. The director has been honoured with career retrospectives at the Walker Art Center and Institut Lumière. In 2023, Nolan was awarded the Federation of American Scientists' Public Service Award. A year later he received the Honorary César from the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma, the Visionary Award from the Saturn Awards, and the inaugural Trailblazer Award at 2024 Sundance Film Festival. In March 2024, the British Government announced that Nolan, along with his wife and producer Emma Thomas would be awarded a knighthood and damehood respectively for their "services to film".
Major associations
Academy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2002 Best Original Screenplay Memento 2011 Best Picture Inception Best Original Screenplay 2018 Best Picture Dunkirk Best Director 2024 Best PictureOppenheimer Best Director Best Adapted Screenplay
Directed Academy Award performancesUnder Nolan's direction, these actors have received Academy Award nominations for their performances in their respective roles. Year Performer Film ResultAcademy Award for Best Actor2023Cillian MurphyOppenheimerAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor 2008 Heath Ledger The Dark Knight 2023Robert Downey Jr.OppenheimerAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress2023Emily BluntOppenheimer
BAFTA Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2010 Best Film Inception Best Director Best Original Screenplay 2017 Best Film Dunkirk Best Director 2023 Best FilmOppenheimer Best Director Best Adapted Screenplay Britannia Award 2010 Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing
Golden Globe Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2002 Best Screenplay Memento 2011 Best Director Inception Best Screenplay 2018 Best Director Dunkirk 2024OppenheimerBest Screenplay
Critics Choice Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2002 Best Screenplay Memento 2009Best PictureThe Dark KnightBest Director 2011 Best Picture Inception Best Director Best Original Screenplay 2018 Best Picture Dunkirk Best Director 2024Best PictureOppenheimerBest Director Best Adapted Screenplay
European Film Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2018 People's Choice Award Dunkirk
Directors Guild of America Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2001Outstanding Directing - Feature FilmMemento 2008The Dark Knight 2010Inception 2018Dunkirk 2024Oppenheimer
Producers Guild of America Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2008 Best Theatrical Motion Picture The Dark Knight 2010 Inception 2017 Dunkirk 2024Oppenheimer
Writers Guild of America Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2008 Best Adapted Screenplay The Dark Knight 2010 Best Original Screenplay Inception 2023 Best Adapted Screenplay Oppenheimer
Other associations