UK enjoys seven Oscar wins as Christopher Nolan takes home first Academy Award

11 March 2024 , 05:09

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UK enjoys seven Oscar wins as Christopher Nolan takes home first Academy Award

The UK had a great night at the 2024 Oscars, thanks to the film Poor Things which bagged three awards for technical achievement. This was topped off by director Christopher Nolan winning his first Oscar.

Poor Things won its three awards early in the evening, all for behind-the-scenes work. Mark Coulier, a seasoned makeup expert, along with Nadia Stacey and Josh Weston from the UK, were part of the team that won best makeup and hair for their work on the dark fantasy comedy.

Shona Heath and James Price took home the Oscar for best production design while Holly Waddington won best costume design. This trio of Oscars comes just after the same group enjoyed similar success at the Bafta film awards. The Zone Of Interest, a film set in and around Auschwitz during World War II, brought two more wins for the UK.

It was another decent night for the Brits at the Oscars (PA Graphics/Press Association Images)

Johnnie Burn and Tarn Willers, British audio designers, won the Oscar for best sound for their work on this historical drama. It also won best international feature, making it the first UK-produced movie to win this category. The film, directed by Brit Jonathan Glazer, has mostly German and Polish dialogue, which made it eligible for the award.

The UK celebrated two more wins at the end of the night. Christopher Nolan, a British filmmaker, won the Oscar for best director for his epic biographical drama Oppenheimer. Nolan bagged his first Oscar 22 years after his initial nomination. Oppenheimer, a joint project between the US and UK, was crowned best picture.

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The UK scooped up seven Oscars this year, three more than last year's four, marking the best performance since 2021 when it won eight. The most Oscars the UK has won in the 21st century was in 2009, with nine awards, including six for Slumdog Millionaire.

British film film fans were able to watch the 96th Academy Awards on terrestrial TV on Sunday night/Monday morning, with Jonathan Ross front the ITV coverage. The chat show host hit a bum note with some viewers though, as he seemed to forget best actor winner Cillian Murphy is Irish, not British.

"Not Jonathan Ross saying British nominee for best actor referring to IRISH Cillian Murphy. Just know he’d be so fuming," one Twitter (X) user raged as Jonathan tried to claim Cillian for the Brits. "Who has ever thought Cillian Murphy was British?? LMAO, Jonathan Ross is off his rocker," another added, with a third writing: "Took 3 mins for Jonathan Ross on ITV to claim Cillian’s win as ‘our’ win like he literally got on stage and pointed out he was Irish?"

PA