Christopher Nolan is known for his commitment to the film format and shooting movies with IMAX cameras. The filmmaker recently wrapped production on The Odyssey, a cinematic adaptation of Homer's poem of the same name, having shot the entire film in the IMAX format. Recently, Nolan spoke about his affinity for IMAX at the eight Kodak Film Awards.
During the ceremony, Nolan spoke highly of the late IMAX chief quality officer David Keighley. Nolan presented Keighley's spouse and business partner, IMAX's Patricia, with an award named after Keighley at the recent function. Calling David Keighley his longtime IMAX mentor and friend, Nolan said, "He was incredibly knowledgeable, a wonderful collaborator. He was the first person to take seriously and ultimately enable my mad dream of shooting Hollywood movies on IMAX film."
Keighley passed away following health complications related to cancer in 2025. He oversaw the post-production works on over 500 films for IMAX. Nolan revealed that Keighley worked for the last time on his upcoming film The Odyssey after the Best Picture Oscar nominee Sinners. Calling Keighley's work on the Ryan Coogler directorial "incredible," Christopher Nolan said, "I’m pleased to be able to say that before he left us last year, he was able to finish supervising every foot shot on our upcoming version of The Odyssey."
In his tributary speech, Nolan underscored Keighley's importance for film business as well. He discussed Kodak's past attempts to ensure that Hollywood keeps making movies with film and not just digitally. Nolan and Keighley met many management executives at studios, but they did not care about what the former had to say about film. Then, Keighley tasked Nolan and his producer spouse Emma Thomas with making filmmakers of every budget level and discipline aware of why it is important to shoot on film. Nolan revealed that the effort ultimately proved successful.
