Projects - Sloan Science & Film

Hidden Figures Theodore Melfi, Trailer

Hidden Figures uncovers the true story of a the black female mathematicians at NASA who helped win the space race against America's rivals in the Soviet Union and, at the same time, sent the quest for equal rights and opportunity rocketing forwards. The film centers on Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson who worked at NASA as "human computers" in the 1950s. Hidden Figures is based on the Sloan-supported book by Margot Lee Shetterly, Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race.

CREDITS

Directed by Theodore Melfi. Written by Theodore Melfi and Allison Schroeder. Produced by Peter Chernin, Donna Gigliotti, Theodore Melfi, Jenno Topping, and Pharrell Williams. Edited by Peter Teschner. Photographed by Mandy Walker. Production design by Wynn Thomas. Music by Pharrell Williams, Hans Zimmer, Benjamin Wallfisch. Principal cast: Taraji P. Henson (as Katherine Johnson), Octavia Spencer (Dorothy Vaughan), Janelle Monáe (Mary Jackson), Kevin Costner (Al Harrison), Kirsten Dunst (Vivian Michael), Glen Powell (John Glenn), Jim Parsons (Paul Stafford).

SCIENTIFIC SUBJECTS

Mathematics
Astronomy

AWARDS

2016, SFFILM: Science in Cinema Prize

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

Short Films
Feature Films

A science focused teaching framework for short and feature films, all of which have received awards from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for their depictions of scientific themes or characters.