The San Francisco Film Society has announced that “Hidden Figures” is the 2016 recipient of the Sloan Science in Cinema Prize, “celebrating the depiction of science in a narrative feature film,” Shadow and Act reports.
The prize is presented annually to a film released in that year. Focusing on “dramatic and entertaining films that illuminate the relevance of science and technology to our daily lives or challenge existing stereotypes about scientists, engineers, or mathematicians, the Film Society and Sloan Foundation seek to spotlight an important new film and provide a platform to celebrate science during the end-of-year awards season.”
The award comes with a $25,000 cash prize and “shines a light on special achievement in rendering the worlds of science and scientists through the language of film with a screening event and onstage conversation with the film’s creators,” the announcement reads.
Written by Allison Schroeder and the film’s director, Theodore Melfi, and based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly, “Hidden Figures” tells the incredible true story of Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson ( Monáe), the brilliant African-American women working at NASA who served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, “a stunning achievement that restored the nation’s confidence, turned around the Space Race, and galvanized the world. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.”
“When we originally conceived of this prize, it was to draw attention to the inspirational quality of creative depictions of science on screen, and no film this year has done that better than ‘Hidden Figures,’” said SF Film Society Executive Director Noah Cowan. “This film tells an important real story behind a landmark human achievement, and brings welcome attention to the group of underappreciated geniuses that made it happen. It does so with incredible heart, anchored by amazing performances from this remarkable cast. I can’t wait to gather this group onstage and explore what brought this film to life.”
The Film Society and the Sloan Foundation will present the award on Saturday, December 17. Following a screening of the film, Melfi, Spencer, and Tracy Drain, Systems Engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will participate in “an in-depth discussion of the science behind the story and its journey to the big screen.”
“‘Hidden Figures’ is not just a remarkable tale of a remarkable group of brainy, gifted African-American female mathematicians and engineers who played a pivotal role in the US space program, it’s a reminder of how ignorance and stereotypical attitudes often blind us to the real qualities and real achievements of many ‘invisible’ people in our society,” said Doron Weber, Vice President and Program Director at the Sloan Foundation.
Earlier this month, Women and Hollywood reported that “Hidden Figures” will be presented with the Ensemble Performance Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. We’re hoping all of these accolades will transfer into the major awards like the SAGs, Golden Globes, and Oscars. Having a science-based film starring women, and women of color at that, campaign for and potentially win awards would be not only a huge deal for Hollywood, but for the awards race as well.
