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After sweeping the 2024 Oscar awards with their film Oppenheimer, filmmaker power couple Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas will receive the British knighthood and damehood. The UK government released a statement on March 28, revealing that the duo will be honored for their services to the film industry.
Oppenheimer, directed by Nolan and produced by Thomas, won seven Oscars at the 96th Academy Awards earlier this year. Nominated in 13 categories, the film won Nolan a Best Director award and the duo a Best Picture award as well.
Christopher Nolan had previously been nominated for six Academy Awards for his films Memento, Inception and Dunkirk. Emma Thomas was previously nominated twice for the Oscars. Their win for Oppenheimer makes her the first British woman to win an Oscar for Best Picture.
Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas' personal-professional relationship explored
Fresh off their win at the Oscars concluding a successful awards season, Christopher Nolan and his wife, Emma Thomas are set to be honored by the UK government. While Nolan will be knighted by the King, Thomas will be appointed as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
The new about the receivers of these honors are usually announced at the beginning of the year or on King Charles III's birthday. However, exceptions are made when special acheivements are made. In this instance, Nolan and Thomas winning the Oscars is a probably reason beind the announcement of the honors.
Christopher Nolan was appointed as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire back in 2019. He was also presented with the British Film Institute Fellowship on February 14, 2024, for his "extraordinary achievements and enormous contribution to cinema." While accepting the award, he credited his wife and long-time collaborator Emma Thomas for supporting him:
"I was asked if in all of those years fighting to shoot on film, did you ever feel alone doing that? I was able to say I did not because my producer Emma Thomas always saw things the same way I did in terms of the importance of the medium."
The couple met in the residence halls of University College London where Christopher Nolan pursued English Literature while Thomas studied History. Nolan was also the president of the UCL Film Society and produced short films. The pair later got hitched in 1997 and have four children together - Flora, Oliver, Rory and Magnus.
In 2001, they co-founded their own production company called Syncopy Inc., which only has four employees including them. Beginning with the crime thriller Following, Emma Thomas has served as a producer on all 12 feature films of Christopher Nolan.
While accepting the 2024 BAFTA award for Best Actor, Cillian Murphy thanked the couple:
"The most dynamic, decent, kindest producer-director partnership in Hollywood, Chris Nolan and Emma Thomas. Thank you for seeing something in me that I probably didn't see myself."
While accepting his Best Director award at the 2024 Academy Awards, Christopher Nolan thanked his wife for being the "producer of all our films and all our children." Later that night, Emma Thomas said while accepting the Best Picture trophy:
"The reason this movie was the movie that it was, was because of Chris Nolan. He’s singular, he’s brilliant and I am so grateful for you."
In consideration of their long career and valuable contribution to cinema, the couple are to receive Knighthood and Damehood in their home country. A formal ceremony is usually hosted at Buckingham Palace to award the honors, often by the U.K. monarch in person.
However, King Charles III is currently undergoing treatment for cancer and is not undertaking any royal duties. Therefore, it remains unknown as to when the pair will receive their honors in a formal ceremony.
