Los Angeles, Jan 8 (IANS): The 81st Golden Globe Awards celebrated excellence in motion picture and audio-visual arts as auteur Christopher Nolan was feted with the honour for Best Director - Motion Picture for his period drama ‘Oppenheimer’.

Nolan beat Bradley Cooper for ‘Maestro’, the tough competitor Greta Gerwig for ‘Barbie’, Yorgos Lanthimos for ‘Poor Things’, the legendary Martin Scorsese for ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ and Celine Song for ‘Past Lives’.

‘Oppenheimer’ is a biographical thriller film starring Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist credited with being the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in the Manhattan Project—the World War II undertaking that developed the first nuclear weapons.

The film is based on the 2005 biography ‘American Prometheus’ by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, the film chronicles the career of Oppenheimer, with the story predominantly focusing on his studies, his direction of the Manhattan Project during World War II, and his eventual fall from grace due to his 1954 security hearing.

The official X handle, erstwhile Twitter, congratulated Nolan as they wrote, “A golden moment for Christopher Nolan who wins Best Director - Motion Picture for Oppenheimer! #GoldenGlobes”.

The 81st Golden Globe Awards are currently underway at the Beverly Hills, California. The Indian audience can stream the award show on Lionsgate Play.