Well, it doesn’t get any nerdier than this. Over the weekend, the Academy’s Scientific & Technical Awards were handed out—aka the Nerd Oscars—honoring the technicians behind the scenes who make movie magic happen. And on hand to help honor those folks was none other than analog advocate Christopher Nolan.
The filmmaker accepted the Merit Award on behalf of “all those who built and operated film laboratories, for over a century of service to the motion picture industry.” Watch his full speech below, in which Nolan honors the alchemists who use chemicals to turn strips of film into bonafide pieces of art.