Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Public Understanding of Science and Technology

Film

Award-Winning Films

Through its partnership with leading film schools, the Foundation recognizes outstanding filmmakers and screenwriters who bring innovative, compelling stories about science and technology to the screen.  Recent films recognized for excellence in production and screenwriting include:
 

11 Weeks by Dipesh Jain
Set in a retirement home in Kashmir, India; 11 weeks is a story about a 60-year-old Kashmiri Hindu Fanatic, research scientist, Vir Chopra, who learns the meaning of humanity from a 10-year-old Muslim orphan boy, Aslam Jehangir, who visits him for 11 weeks as community service. In 11 weeks, Aslam’s innocence, acts of humanity and care, transforms Vir, who hates Muslims because his family was killed by the Islamic terrorists. The relationship that starts with hatred in the first week slowly moves to a point where by the 11th week, Vir forgets about the religious differences and treats Aslam like his son. Vir’s success as a scientist, in creating a plant, which will benefit humanity, gets its true meaning only after he learns the meaning of humanity from this young boy.  Awarded the 2007 Production Award by the USC School of Cinema-Television.

The Art of Underwater Navigation by Dylan Tuccillo
The ocean meant many things in the 19th century: a battlefield, a gap between nations, a blue abyss of nothingness. To Narcis Monturiol the world of the underwater was alive and infinite. It was a chance for exploration, a source of knowledge, and a refuge from the chaotic state of Barcelona. These thoughts drove Monturiol to design and build one of the first submarines, the Ictineu, a fish-like machine that literally breathed underwater. Against the backdrop of revolutionary Catalonia, the inventor must balance his scientific ferver, his family, his friendships, and his political views. The Art of Underwater Navigation follows Monturiol through his work and life as he fought to produce an improbable dream. Awarded the 2007 Screenwriting Award by NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

A Day in March by Roberto Bentivegna
Based on real events, A Day in March tells the true story of Ettore Majorana, widely considered one of the geniuses of modern science. Majorana contributed to the research that would eventually lead to the creation of the Atomic Bomb. Ridden by guilt, and anguished by the pressures of Mussolini's Italy, Majorana took the most drastic step of all: he faked his own death. The screenplay recounts his life leading up to his disappearance, and then branches out into 3 different scenarios of the lives he might have led after disappearing. The story is framed by journalist Bruno Conti's assignment, 15 years after Majorana's "death", to finally put an end to speculation and solve the Majorana case.  Awarded the 2007 Screenwriting Award by Columbia University.

First in Flight by Charles William Coulter
First in Flight is a character-driven historical biopic of the Wright Brothers, two impulsive, uneducated dreamers who finally solved the problem of heavier-than-air piloted flight. First in Flight chronicles not only the Wrights' scientific achievement but also the turbulent home life of these two wildly different young men, as they lived in the shadow of their conservative and domineering Bishop father. The script travels from the Deep South to Wilbur's subsequent fame as a record-breaking aerielist and bon vivant abroad in France. Everyone knows about Kitty Hawk. It's what happened after it that defined the legacy of the two American geniuses.  Awarded the 2007 Screenwriting Award by the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.

Good Scents by Aimee Gillette
Awarded the 2007 Production Award by the NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

A Habitable World by Rebecca Nesvet
A Habitable World is a tragicomic period adventure inspired by the career of the scientist, mathematician, writer, cleric and dreamer who started the space race—in seventeenth-century Oxford. Haunted by the death in war of his best friend, Oxford scholar John Wilkins is convinced that “a habitable world” exists—on the moon. Wilkins convinces fearsome dictator Oliver Cromwell to give him money to plant England’s first lunar colony, then must figure out how to get there. Meanwhile, France’s de facto ruler Cardinal Mazarin sends a spy to stop Wilkins before his scientific revolution destroys the rule of kings: Anne Gosson, the “best lockpicker in France” and sister of Wilkins’s late friend. To build and launch his “lunar chariot “ Wilkins must win over the dictator, the Oxfordians, and Anne, but also overcome his more dangerous assumptions about the workings of a mysterious world -- his own. " Awarded the 2007 Screenwriting Award by the NYU Tisch School of the Arts

Healing Roots by France-Luce Benson
Healing Roots, is a story of modern western medicine vs. natural afro-ancestral healing, set against the backdrop of 1970’s Haiti. Lucia Narcisse, a fiery single mother in Cap Haitian, Haiti, is determined to give her daughter a better life than the inevitable destiny of poverty accepted by so many on this island. Too proud to ask for help, Lucia works night and day to afford to send Marie to a private school that will secure her a brighter future.  Awarded the 2007 Screenwriting Award by Carnegie Mellon School of Drama.

Humbug by Xavier Tatarkiewicz
Humbug is a story of a young Ph.D. student who does not fit in the academy. The film explores the politics and power dynamics in the world of science. Pressured to produce break-through results, our protagonist makes a spectacular discovery that wins him instant fame and celebrity status. Weeks later, a retired professor reveals methodology mistakes and brands our hero's discovery as the humbug of the century. In the end, threatened to lose his job, our protagonist will change his fortune in one unexpected twist. Awarded the 2007 Production Award by the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.

Life in a Box by Nidhi Verghese
Awarded the 2007 Screenwriting Award by the American Film Institute.

The Man Who Won The War by Matthew Bird
The Man Who Won the War tells the tragic but inspiring true story of Alan Turing. At Cambridge in the 1930s, Alan is a shy, gay, math genius who dreams up a new way of looking at the world and invents the idea of a mechanical brain. When Hitler strikes, Alan's unique talents are put to use breaking Nazi codes. Incorporating his idea about programmable machines, Alan's team at Bletchley Park break the "unbreakable" enigma code and secretly turn the tide of the war. After the war, Alan hopes to build on the work they've done and build a fully-realized computer, but the British government classifies their work and destroys their machines. Despite the lack of recognition, Alan tries to continue his work at Manchester University, but fate tragically intervenes one final time. Awarded the 2007 Screenwriting Award by Columbia University.

Mortal Coil by Michael Scotto
Awarded the 2007 Screenwriting Award by the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama.

Passerine: A Bird Duet by Denise Iris
Awarded the 2007 Production Award by Columbia University.

The Profiteer by Ian Shorr
The Profiteer is a tragicomedy set in the 1700’s, about a brilliant young scientist who discovers “grid theory” and uses it to become the world’s first war profiteer. Awarded the 2007 Screenwriting Award by the USC School of Cinema-Television.

SARAHN_12 by Sasie Sealy & Mark Heyman
SARAHN_12 begins with a murder--a grisly reality that has left Sarah Nilson bereft and consumed with finding her fiance's killer. Three months after his death, the case has reached a standstill, and Sarah is methodically searching for any clue that might unlock the stagnant investigation, including the password to his Second Life account. Once she is able to log on, she discovers that his avatar was murdered two days before his real life murder--a coincidence too real to ignore. Sarah begins her own investigation in Second Life and is soon pulled into a world where fantasy mirrors reality and the boundary between the two is sometimes hard to find.  Awarded the 2007 Feature Production Award by the NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Stargazer by Madeleine Holly-Rosing
Based on a true story. Scottish-American Minda Fleming began her life in America pregnant, penniless and abandoned by her husband. While working as a maid for the director of the Harvard Observatory, he soon recognized her intelligence and talent and hired her. Though challenged at every turn by the men and women she worked with, Minda eventually became one of the most prominent astronomers of her time and created a new system of classifying stars.  Awarded the 2007 Screenwriting Award by the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.

Stereopsis by Joseph Singer
Awarded the 2007 Production Award by the NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Through the Air to Calais by Joseph Mauceri & Seth Kamphuijs
Awarded the 2007 Production Award by the American Film Institute.

Tymbals by Filippo Conz
Tymbals is the story of Charlotte, an entomologist recovering from the accidental death of her husband many years before. When confronted by a relationship with a new man on a summer day when the 13-year cicadas hit their peak cycle, Charlotte must choose between the paralyzing grief she knows and the new course her life is beginning to take.  Awarded the 2007 Production Award by Columbia University.

Whaling City by Jay Burke
A third-generation New England fisherman fights to stay afloat in a dying industry, and a once-proud city losing its identity. With the bank foreclosing on his boat and pressure from local scientists to provide accurate fish counts, he finds a second chance at redemption in the most unlikely of places.  Awarded the 2007 Screenwriting Award by Columbia University.

The Witness by Ioana Maria Uricaru
Sam, a neuroscientist and specialist in neuroimaging, is called to testify as an expert witness in a criminal trial and becomes caught in a network of intense emotions that don’t always agree with his scientific findings. His greatest challenge will be to separate his emotional allegiances and his professional ones, while staying true to both.  Awarded the 2007 Production Award by the USC School of Cinema-Television.

(Film descriptions provided courtesy of The Museum of the Moving Image.)

Program Director: Doron Weber Bio