Christopher Nolan wins first Oscar for 'Best Director', ‘Oppenheimer' crowned ‘Best Picture’ 

Christopher Nolan accepts the award for Best Director for `Oppenheimer` Pic/AFP

Ace filmmaker Christopher Nolan won his first-ever Oscar for the biopic 'Oppenheimer'. Nolan bagged the coveted statuette for 'Best Director' as well as for 'Best Picture' at the 96th Academy Awards. Nolan beat off competition from Jonathan Glazer of "The Zone of Interest," Yorgos Lanthimos of "Poor Things," Martin Scorsese of "Killers of the Flower Moon," and Justine Triet of "Anatomy of a Fall."

Before Oscars 2024, Nolan received five nominations for three different films but never won an Academy Award. He was nominated for Best Original Screenplay for Memento (2002), Best Picture and Original Screenplay for Inception (2010), and Best Picture and Best Director nods for Dunkirk (2018).

In his acceptance speech, Nolan said, "I have so many people to thank. The most incredible cast, Matt Damon, Robert, Emily, Florence, just so many others, all at the top of their game, led by the incredible Cillian Murphy… a crew, some of whom have been awarded tonight. I can't say enough about the incredible crew that we got together on this film. Thank you to Chuck Roven for putting the book in my hands… The incredible Emma Thomas, producer of all our films and all of our children. I love you. To the academy, just to say movies are just a little bit over 100 years old. I mean, imagine being there 100 years into painting or theater. We don't know where this incredible journey is going from here. But to know that you think that I'm a meaningful part of it means the world to me."

Meanwhile 'Oppenheimer' won over 'American Fiction', 'Anatomy of a Fall', 'Barbie', 'The Holdovers', 'Killers of the Flower Moon', 'Maestro', 'Past Lives', 'Poor Things', 'The Zone of Interest'. Nolan's biopic dominated the award night as they won Best Supporting Actor, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score.

The biopic, set during World War II, follows Oppenheimer, known as the "Father of the Atomic Bomb," during a period in history when he understood that testing the atomic bomb would ignite the atmosphere and destroy the world, yet he pushed the button anyway.

'Oppenheimer' is played by Cillian Murphy, who secured the lead for the first time in a Christopher Nolan film. Having previously starred in 'Inception,' 'Batman Begins,' 'The Dark Knight,' 'The Dark Knight Rises,' and 'Dunkirk,' Murphy has been a mainstay in many of Nolan's movies.

The star-studded cast includes Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh, Benny Safdie, Dane DeHaan, Jack Quaid, Matthew Modine, Alden Ehrenreich, Josh Peck, Jason Clarke, David Dastmalchian, Alex Wolff, James D'Arcy, and many others. Florence Pugh plays Jean Tatlock, Emily Blunt plays Kitty Oppenheimer, Robert Downey Jr. plays Lewis Strauss, and Matt Damon.

(With inputs from ANI)