Christopher Nolan will be honored by the Federation of American Scientists

Oppenheimer is the third highest grossing movie of 2023 to date at $939.1M worldwide, an unprecedented achievement for a three-hour feature drama movie, in particular one that opened on the same weekend with the year’s highest grossing movie, Barbie, which counts $1.43 billion global.

Christopher Nolan will be honored by the Federation of American Scientists for his cinematic portrait of J. Robert Oppenheimer in Universal’s Oppenheimer this November. The five-time Oscar nominee will be bestowed with the org’s Public Service Award which recognizes outstanding work in science policy and culture.

The awards ceremony, which will take place in Washington D.C next month, revives a decades-long tradition that began in 1971, which honors the contributions of a diverse group of scientists, policymakers, and tastemakers in pursuit of advancements in science and technology.

“Nolan’s film depicts the scientists who formed FAS in the fall of 1945 as the ‘Federation of Atomic Scientists’ to communicate the dangers of nuclear weapons to the public. We continue to pursue their vision of a safer world, especially as current events remind us that those dangers are real and resurgent,” FAS CEO Daniel Correa said.

Nolan tells Deadline, “I am especially honoured to be recognized by the Federation of American Scientists, a body formed to give scientists a voice in policy making during the very period we attempt to portray in Oppenheimer.”

Also being lauded at the November ceremony with Nolan are Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Todd Young (R-IN) for their work in Congress making the CHIPS & Science Act a reality.

“FAS also believes that science, technology, and innovation have vast potential to solve the biggest challenges of our time. To that end, we’re also recognizing Senators Schumer and Young, because the CHIPS & Science Act represents an historic investment in this country’s future. It is an honor to present these awards to director Nolan and Senators Schumer and Young,” added Correa.

FAS will also honor former OSTP acting director Alondra Nelson, for her leadership on both AI regulation and advancing equity in STEM fields, and Alexa White, who will receive FAS’ first ever “Policy Entrepreneurship” award – aimed at honoring an emerging leader in the world of science policy.

Previous FAS award winners include Senators Ted Kennedy, Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar and Secretaries Henry Kissinger, George Schultz and William Perry, and author Carl Sagan, editor Ruth Adams, and activist Sally Lillenthal.