Sloan Science and Film

Dream Science and Inception

The tagline of Christopher Nolan’s new blockbuster Inception claims that "the dream is real." But is the science? Anthony Kaufman talks to dream scholars about lucid dreaming and recent developments in dream research. Read more at our sister site Moving Image Source

Sundance/Sloan Commissioning Grant

The Sundance Institute and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation offer an annual commissioning grant, including a cash award, a stipend for a science advisor, and creative support, to a science or technology-themed narrative project at an early stage (full treatment or screenplay draft). Deadline for submissions is September 24, 2010. More details and information on past grantees can be found here: http://www.sundance.org/sloan/

Imagine Science Film Festival 2010

The 3rd Annual Imagine Science Film Festival will be held in New York City from October 15-24. Submissions are open until August 15, 2010. Films compete for the $2,500 Nature Scientific Merit Award, the $1,000 People’s Choice Award, sponsored by Imagine Science Films Productions, and the $500 Hollywood Math and Science Film Consulting Harlem Math and Science Award for a New York City high school student.

The Science of Memory

The Sloan Foundation and the Tribeca Film Institute will present a 10th anniversary screening of Christopher Nolan’s Memento on Saturday, April 24, followed by a panel discussion featuring actors Guy Pearce and Joe Pantoliano, writer Jonathan Nolan, neuroscientist Suzanne Corkin, and psychology professor William Hirst. Read more about Memento and memory at Moving Image Source.

Natural Wonders

The new BBC documentary Life, the follow-up to the hugely successful Planet Earth, offers unique access to nature through state-of-the-art innovations that reveal behavior invisible to the human eye. Read more about the technology and the spectacle of Life at Moving Image Source.

Obselidia wins Sloan Sundance Prize

February 1, 2010: Diane Bell’s Obselidia, the story of an encyclopedia salesman, a film projectionist, and a reclusive scientist, won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. The prize, which carries a $20,000 cash award, is presented annually to an outstanding feature focusing on science or technology as a theme, or depicting a scientist as a major character.

The Consolation of Science

In revealing the all-too-human aspects of Charles Darwin’s life, the new movie Creation explodes the stereotype of the cold, closed-off scientist. John Anderson talks to John Collee, the doctor-turned-novelist and screenwriter who wrote the film.

Award-Winning Short Films

Newly posted to our collection of Sloan award-winning shorts: Daniel Clifton’s For All Mankind. Also recently added: Joseph Mauceri’s Through the Air to Calais, Seth Dalton’s Melody of Clock and Arrow and a trailer for Randall Dottin’s Indelible.

TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund

The TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund will provide up to $140,000 in support of film projects that explore scientific, mathematical, or technological themes in their storylines, or that feature a leading character who is a scientist, engineer, innovator or mathematician. Deadline for submissions is January 11, 2010. Details on the application process and information on past grantees available here.

Sloan Tribute at Hamptons Festival

The Hamptons International Film Festival will mark the 10th anniversary of its annual Sloan Prize with the Sloan Science in Film Tribute on October 9 at 6 p.m. The event will feature past Sloan Prize recipients and special guests Bob Balaban and Alan Alda. The evening will also include the presentation of this year’s HIFF Sloan Prize to Alejandro Amenabar’s Agora. For tickets and information, send an inquiry to sloan@hamptonsfilmfest.org.

Sloan Films at Imagine Festival

The lineup for this year’s Imagine Science Film Festival includes five Sloan-awarded films: Rafael Del Toro’s 6 ft. in 7 Minutes (Columbia, 2005), Joshua Kameyer’s Chances Are (USC, 2006), Anupama Pradhan’s Dharini (AFI, 2005), Jonathan Sanden’s Extropy (NYU, 2006), and Mark Landsman’s Skylab (AFI, 2005).

A Romantic Hero with Asperger

Adam, a love story between an engineer with Asperger’s Syndrome and a woman who moves into his building, won the Sloan Prize at Sundance and is currently in theaters. Anthony Kaufman talks to writer-director Max Mayer about the process of creating a romantic leading man with this little-understood neurological disorder.

Sleep Dealer in theaters now

Alex Rivera’s Sleep Dealer, winner of the Sloan prize at Sundance in 2008, is now playing in New York and Los Angeles. In the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan lauds it as

Sloan Sundance Prize Goes to Adam

Max Mayer’s Adam, a love story between a man with Asperger’s Syndrome (Hugh Dancy) and a woman who moves into his building (Rose Byrne), won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was selected

Sloan Film Summit

The AFI Sloan Film Summit 2008 took place in Hollywood from November 5 to 8. Events included panel discussions, screenings of Sloan Award-winning short films, and staged readings of Sloan Award-winning screenplays. Read John Anderson’s report.