British-American filmmaker Christopher Nolan has won an Oscar at last. Many fans have thought he deserved to win on several occasions in the past.
Before the 2024 Academy Awards, Nolan had earned five nominations. His latest release, Oppenheimer, received 14 nominations, making it the most honoured film of his decades-long career.
In total, the film earned seven awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Nolan himself.
Since emerging in the late 1990s, Nolan has become a successful blockbuster filmmaker, with many of his movies becoming time-tested favourites for fans and critics alike – creating larger-than-life experiences that warrant repeat viewing.
Here we look at the director’s history at the Academy Awards that led to his much-anticipated wins.
2002 – Memento
Nolan’s first nomination was for Best Original Screenplay for Memento. The film is considered one of the director’s most important films for its mystery-box storytelling and editing.
The neo-noir film tells its story in reverse, with the end at the beginning and vice versa. The film stars Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano.
Memento lost the Best Original Screenplay Oscar to Gosford Park, written by Julian Fellowes. The film was also nominated for Best Film Editing and lost that award to Black Hawk Down.
Despite being his first major film after his student feature Following, Memento displayed a level of artistry and attention that only grew in the subsequent years.
2011 – Inception
Nolan returned to the Oscars nomination list in 2011 with his most ambitious work to date.
After the huge success of The Dark Knight, the director stepped away from the Batman franchise to direct an action epic set inside the world of dreams.
Inception stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy and Ken Watanabe. The film was a huge box office success, earning more than $800 million against its $160 million budget.
Nominated for eight Academy Awards in 2011, Inception took home four Oscars. Unfortunately for Nolan, he lost the Best Picture and Best Director awards to The King’s Speech and its director Tom Hooper.
Inception remains a fan favourite as well as a popular choice for home entertainment, providing a film experience unlike any other.
2018 – Dunkirk
After another long absence from the awards, Nolan was nominated once again for his Second World War film Dunkirk.
Starring Fionn Whitehead, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy and Mark Rylance, the historic epic was a popular big-screen experience that year, earning more than $500 million in box office returns.
Dunkirk was nominated for eight Academy Awards, taking home three for Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing.
While he was nominated for both Best Director and Best Picture, Nolan lost both to Guillermo Del Toro and his film The Shape of Water.
2024 – Oppenheimer
Arriving at this year’s Academy Awards, Nolan’s historical biopic about the so-called father of the atom bomb was the favourite to win the most categories.
Oppenheimer earned 13 nominations and took home seven awards.
The film, which was released in summer, became a cinematic sensation alongside Barbie, as they came out within a week of each other.
Film fans called the unlikely double-feature “Barbenheimer,” a portmanteau of the titles.
Oppenheimer made more than $900 million in box office returns, a big success for cinemagoing in the post-pandemic world.
Proving to be Nolan's most successful film at the Oscars yet, Oppenheimer picked up awards throughout the night.
While the film's Best Picture win was the heavy favourite, Best Director was more in question, making his win all the sweeter for fans.
And if that wasn’t enough, Oppenheimer went on to win Best Picture too, giving Nolan a double Oscar win for a film he fought hard to get made.
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
UAE%20v%20West%20Indies
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Countries recognising Palestine
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
