Last week, the Sloan Foundation and Coolidge Corner Theatre presented the second annual national evening of Science on Screen, an event in which twenty-two independent grantee cinemas across the country simultaneously screened films paired with introductions by scientists, engineers, or mathematicians.

Over the past five years, Sloan has supported the expansion of Coolidge’s flagship program to art house cinemas nationwide, each of which also shows at least one Sloan film per year. To date, 71 grants have been awarded to 38 independent cinemas, with this partnership providing a unique distribution opportunity for Sloan-funded films.

Screenings on March 16th included the Coolidge Corner screening of Arsenic and Old Lace introduced by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Deborah Blum, and American Hustle at the Athena Cinema in Ohio, introduced by cognitive scientist Dr. Claudia Gonzalez-Vallejo. Other participating cinemas screened a wide variety of science based films, including such choices as Soylent Green at the Capri Theatre, Raiders of the Lost Ark at the Loft Cinema, and Space Jam at the Michigan Theater.

The Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation is the recipient of a current two-year Sloan grant to support the theatre’s Science on Screen Program and expand its reach to theatres nationwide.