The Sloan Foundation and the San Francisco Film Society (SFFS) have announced an exciting new partnership. The new two-year grant to form the Science in Cinema Initiative marks the third festival partnership for the Sloan Foundation and will include a spotlight program at the San Francisco International Film Festival. The SFFS was formed in 1957 and screens more than 300 films as part of its annual program.

According to the San Francisco Film Society, the initiative aims to:

“Develop and present new feature films and episodic content that portray fully-drawn scientist and
technologist characters; immerse audiences in the challenges and rewards of scientific discovery;
and sharpen public awareness of the intersection of science, technology and our daily lives. …
The initiative launches later this year and will focus on three main project areas: the Science in
Cinema Prize, which will be awarded each year to a new film in release with significant scientific
themes; the Science in Cinema Filmmaker Fellowship, supporting filmmakers developing
science-themed screenplays; and Science in Cinema at SFIFF, a new spotlight program at the
San Francisco International Film Festival.”

The recipient of the Filmmaker Fellowship will receive a $35,000 cash grant as well as a two-month residency at FilmHouse, the SFFS's production studio; 2015 Sloan grantee Elena Greenlee is currently a part-time resident at FilmHouse developing her screenplay DARK FOREST. The 59^th annual San Francisco Film Festival will be held in Spring 2016, spotlighting two narrative works of fiction that focus on themes of science and technology as part of this new initiative. "The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has made a dramatic impact on the kinds of films and television being made and celebrated today," said SFFS Executive Director Noah Cowan in a press release. "Their emphasis on science at the core of our daily lives and in the most treasured stories of our past perfectly matches the San Francisco Film Society's goal to help create and champion cinema that reflects the culture of technological and scientific innovation here in the Bay Area."

The Sloan-San Francisco Film Society partnership follows two highly successful Sloan partnerships with major film institutes. The Tribeca Film Institute and the Sundance Institute Sloan programs develop qualifying screenplays toward production and feature Sloan awards and events at their respective film festivals. To date, the Sloan Film Program has produced 15 feature films, including EXPERIMENTER and THE STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT, via its pipeline of film development and distribution partners. For more information about the San Francisco Film Society and the Sloan partnership, visit their website.