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MoMI's Sloan Science & Film initiative receives $598,238 three-year grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

MAY 6, 2022

Five armed women in rugged outdoor gear scout a grassy location
Alex Garland's Annhilation screens as part of the ongoing Science on Screen series. (Paramount Pictures)

Museum of the Moving Image has been awarded a $598,238 three-year grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to support its Sloan Science & Film initiative, which provides opportunities for the creation, distribution, exhibition, and discussion of films that amplify understanding of scientific themes.

These funds will support the following activities:

  • The online archive and publication scienceandfilm.org, which offers a lively mix of festival coverage, interviews with filmmakers as well as science advisors on films, and commissioned writing by scientists—with new content added weekly. The site also keeps a record of all Sloan-funded film projects and offers streaming video of short science films.
  • The ongoing public screening series Science on Screen, including a current year-long focus on Extinction and Otherwise.
  • The exhibition, Twitch, Pop, Bloom: Science in Action, comprised of a selection of nine short films, all produced for scientific education and entertainment between 1904 and 1936. The films will be presented on a loop in the Museum’s video screening amphitheater.
  • The administration of the $20,000 Sloan Student Grand Jury and Discovery Prizes as well as support for the cohort of Sloan filmmakers previously awarded these prizes.
  • Plus other activities, include a new lookbook to serve as inspiration for prospective Sloan film grantees, and a new Sloan film development catalog.

The Sloan Science & Film initiative aims to engage the public in unexpected and creative ways around scientific topics relevant to daily life, with substantive content hoping to foster a science-literate population that values fact-based storytelling and the role of science in society. Online and on-site at MoMI, the initiative also maximizes the impact of film grants made by the Sloan Foundation by featuring filmmakers in interviews, producing educational materials and public programs that offer new avenues for distribution, and directly supporting projects with funding and industry exposure.

“We are extremely grateful to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for their renewed support of our work," said Sonia Epstein, Executive Editor of scienceandfilm.org and MoMI Associate Curator of Science and Film. "While the Foundation’s support dates back to 2009, in recent years the Sloan Science & Film initiative has become a robust, thriving program that provides a unique resource and community hub to explore both physically and digitally the intersection of science and film. This year marks the first year that the initiative will have a presence in the Museum’s galleries, and the first year-long thematic Science on Screen film series, Extinction and Otherwise. Moreover, coming out of the 2022 Sloan Film Summit, which brought together more than 100 filmmakers in this community, we are looking forward to helping their work develop and reach new audiences.”

Museum of the Moving Image is currently operating the Sloan Science & Film initiative with a grant that was generously awarded in March 2019.

About the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a New York–based, philanthropic, not-for-profit institution that makes grants in three areas: research in science, technology, and economics; quality and diversity of scientific institutions; and public engagement with science. Sloan’s program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology, directed by Doron Weber, aims to enrich people’s lives through a keener appreciation of our increasingly scientific and technological world and to humanize the lives of the men and women working as scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. The goal is to integrate the two cultures of science and the humanities by supporting an array of original works such as books, radio, television, film, theater, and new media. The Foundation works with about 20 film school and film festival partners and has supported over 750 film projects, including over 30 feature films. For more information visit sloan.org or follow @SloanPublic on Twitter or Facebook.