The winners of 2024 Sloan Student Prizes have been selected by a jury of scientists and film industry professionals, as recently announced in Variety. Each winner will receive $20,000 plus year-round mentorship from Museum of the Moving Image and film and science professionals. The Grand Jury prize represents the best screenplay selected from among those schools with which the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation partners year-round and the Discovery Prize represents an expansion of Sloan's film program to include nominations from six public universities.
The 2024 jurors were Sebastian Alvarado (Queens College), Jeremy Greene (John Hopkins School of Medicine), Maureen E. Raymo (Columbia University), director Johan Renck (SPACEMAN, CHERNOBYL), actress/director Francesca Scorsese (WE ARE WHO WE ARE, CHRISTMAS EVE IN MILLER’S POINT), and Netflix Sustainability Officer Emma Stewart. They selected the following filmmakers:
The winner of the 2024 Sloan Student Grand Jury Prize:
THIN ICE by Brittany Wang (USC)
Logline: In 1999, graduate student Jane Willenbring embarks on a research expedition under legendary glaciologist David Marchant. But upon reaching the remote Antarctic camp, Marchant makes her life a living hell. Powerless, injured, and isolated from the world, Jane promises herself to take action someday. Seventeen years later, now an award-winning geomorphologist, will Jane risk the career that she’s built in order to bring her past abuser to justice?
Jury citation: “Developed in collaboration with its subject, Thin Ice tells the compelling true story of geologist Jane Willenbring, whose historic Title IX complaint not only led to profound social change within the sciences but illustrates an inspiring commitment to scientific advancement in the face of adversity. Struck by the script’s authenticity and impressed by its narrative structure, the jury is delighted to award the Sloan Student Grand Jury Prize to THIN ICE.”
The winner of the 2024 Sloan Student Discovery Prize:
IMPACT by Yoel Gebremariam (University of Michigan)
Logline: On the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, an embattled American astronaut lands on the moon alongside India's first-ever astronaut. When a meteor storm strikes, stranding his partner in orbit, he's forced to join forces with India and learn what it means to leave an impact.
Jury citation: “IMPACT is an engrossing space thriller with tremendous blockbuster potential. Gebremariam’s script has all the excitement and suspense that define the genre, while offering a fresh perspective on space programs beyond the United States and a nuanced portrayal of the engineering that makes spaceflight possible. The jury is thrilled to award the Sloan Student Discovery Prize to Impact.”
Gebremariam is the first filmmaker of University of Michigan to claim the prize since its inception in 2019.
The jury also awarded honorable mention to Hallie Stephenson for her pilot script ABEL'S BABY:
ABEL'S BABY by Hallie Stephenson (SUNY Purchase)
Logline: A convict in the late 18th century discovers she is pregnant while aboard a prisoner transport ship on route to Australia and uses her expert knowledge of 18th-century physics, engineering, and chemistry to save herself and her unborn child.
Museum of the Moving Image will celebrate the winners at the 14th edition of its annual festival First Look in March 2025.
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