Directed by Christopher Nolan and featuring contributions by a number of AFI Conservatory graduates – including assistant art director Robert Aguirre (AFI Class of 2018), visual effects supervisor David Drzewiecki (AFI Class of 1985), still photographer Melinda Sue Gordon (AFI Class of 1980) and assistant art director Roxy Hua (AFI Class of 2019) – OPPENHEIMER (2023) marked a cultural moment for the creative community as well as the art form itself, earning acknowledgement by the 2023 AFI AWARDS as one of the year’s most outstanding achievements in the art of the moving image. According to the official rationale, “OPPENHEIMER detonates a moral quandary – rare in the days when superheroes have all the answers. Christopher Nolan’s blinding look at this flashpoint in American history aches with the consequences of achievement and explodes beyond the screen to register a new standard in film biographies. At its core stands Cillian Murphy, who embodies an enigma with rich complexity – while orbited by powerhouse performances from a peerless all-star cast.”