Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British-American filmmaker whose concept-driven epics have reshaped the modern studio blockbuster. Renowned for structurally intricate storytelling, large-format cinematography, and practical effects, he is widely regarded as a defining director of the 21st century. His films have grossed over $6.6 billion worldwide and earned him two Academy Awards, two BAFTAs, and a Golden Globe. He was appointed CBE in 2019 and knighted in 2024 for services to film. Raised between London and Evanston, Illinois, Nolan began making Super 8 shorts as a child, later studying English literature at University College London, where he ran the Film Society and met his producer and future wife, Emma Thomas; together they founded Syncopy Inc. After shorts like Doodlebug, he self-financed his micro-budget debut Following (1998), then broke through with the reverse-told amnesia noir Memento (2000). Studio work followed with Insomnia (2002) and then Batman Begins (2005), which launched a grounded superhero trilogy completed by The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Between and after those, he mounted original tentpoles—The Prestige (2006), Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014), and the triptych survival drama Dunkirk (2017), which earned his first Best Director nomination. Nolan’s films interrogate time, memory, identity, ethics, and knowledge—sneaking metaphysics into genre frames (noir, heist, war, biopic). Hallmarks include nonlinear or braided timelines, precision cross-cutting, mathematically inflected imagery, practical/in-camera spectacle augmented by visual effects, experimental soundscapes, and a steadfast preference for celluloid (65mm/IMAX) and theatrical exhibition. A frequent collaborator with Jonathan Nolan (co-writer), Emma Thomas (producer), and craftspeople such as Wally Pfister, Hoyte van Hoytema, Lee Smith, and Hans Zimmer, he also advocates globally for film preservation and exhibition, curating restorations and convening archivists to champion photochemical cinema. After the time-bending espionage of Tenet (2020), Nolan departed Warner Bros. and partnered with Universal on Oppenheimer (2023), a morally dense biopic that won him the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture. He is re-teaming with Universal on The Odyssey (scheduled for 2026), an IMAX-shot adaptation of Homer’s epic. In 2025 he was elected President of the Directors Guild of America. Nolan lives in Los Angeles with Thomas and their four children, continuing to pair popular spectacle with intellectual ambition while championing the artistry—and communal ritual—of seeing movies on film, in cinemas.
Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of The Dark Knight
(Self)
Heath Ledger: A Tribute
(Self)
These Amazing Shadows
(Self)
The Batmobile
(Self)
Side by Side
(Self)
To End All War: Oppenheimer & the Atomic Bomb
(Self - Writer / Director, "Oppenheimer")
Dreams: Cinema of the Subconscious
(Self)
Inside Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer
(Self - Director / Writer / Producer)
Gotham Uncovered: Creation of a Scene
(Self)
Batman Tech
(Self)
The Science of Interstellar
(Self)
The Director's Notebook: The Cinematic Sleight of Hand of Christopher Nolan
(Self)
Tales from the Warner Bros. Lot
(Self)
The Fire Rises: The Creation and Impact of The Dark Knight Trilogy
(Self)
Tarantella
(Man in Black)
Interstellar: Nolan's Odyssey
(Self)
Hans Zimmer: Hollywood Rebel
(Self)
Cinema16: British Short Films
(Self - Commentary, Doodlebug (voice))
Stanley Kubrick in Focus
(Self)
Cinema Futures
(Self)
Exploring 'The Tree of Life'
(Self)
Inside 'Interstellar'
(Self - Director / Co-Writer)
Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light
(Self)
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
(Self)
Ending the Knight
(Self)
Joker: Put on a Happy Face
(Self)
Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics
(Self (archive footage))
Catwoman: The Feline Femme Fatale
(Self)
Looking at the World in a New Way: The Making of ‘Tenet’
(Self)
Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert
(Self)
Utan ord – i filmmusikens värld
(Selft)
StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson
(Self)
Encyclopedia of Useless Facts Around The Earth
(Self)
100 Years of Warner Bros.
(Self)
MTV Movie & TV Awards
(Self / Presenter)
Golden Globe Awards
(Self - Nominee)
The Colbert Report
(Self)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
(Self)
The Oscars
(Self)
James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction
(Self)
Thirteen Talks
The Dark Knight
(Screenplay)
The Dark Knight
(Producer)
Memento
(Screenplay)
The Prestige
(Screenplay)
Tarantella
(Director of Photography)
Tarantella
(Director)
Tarantella
(Editor)
Tarantella
(Writer)
Tarantella
(Producer)
Following
(Producer)
Following
(Director of Photography)
Following
(Editor)
Following
(Screenplay)
Inception
(Producer)
Doodlebug
(Writer)
Doodlebug
(Editor)
The Dark Knight Rises
(Producer)
The Dark Knight Rises
(Screenplay)
The Dark Knight Rises
(Story)
Man of Steel
(Producer)
Man of Steel
(Story)
Inception: The Cobol Job
(Characters)
Interstellar
(Producer)
Transcendence
(Executive Producer)
Oppenheimer
(Director)
Oppenheimer
(Producer)
Oppenheimer
(Writer)
Inception
(Writer)
Interstellar
(Writer)
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
(Executive Producer)
Batman Begins
(Screenplay)
Cinema16: British Short Films
(Director)
Dunkirk
(Writer)
The Prestige
(Producer)
Dunkirk
(Producer)
Larceny
(Producer)
Larceny
(Camera Operator)
Larceny
(Writer)
Larceny
(Editor)
Larceny
(Director)
Quay
(Producer)
Doodlebug
(Set Designer)
Justice League
(Executive Producer)
Quay
(Original Music Composer)
Quay
(Director of Photography)
To End All War: Oppenheimer & the Atomic Bomb
(Thanks)
Tenet
(Writer)
Tenet
(Producer)
Tenet
(Director)
Batman Begins
(Director)
Cinema 16: European Short Films (U.S. Edition)
(Director)
Interstellar
(Director)
Doodlebug
(Director of Photography)
Insomnia
(Director)
The Dark Knight
(Director)
Quay
(Director)
Dunkirk
(Director)
Following
(Director)
Doodlebug
(Director)
The Prestige
(Director)
Memento
(Director)
Inception
(Director)
The Dark Knight
(Story)
The Doll's Breath
(Producer)
Quay
(Editor)
Zack Snyder's Justice League
(Executive Producer)
The Dark Knight Rises
(Director)
The Odyssey
(Director)
The Odyssey
(Writer)
The Odyssey
(Producer)
Fearville
(Camera Operator)
Domchilik
(Idea)
Sinners
(Thanks)