The SFFILM Pageant — or San Francisco Worldwide Movie Pageant — will get underway this Thursday, April 17. Whereas the total lineup has already been unveiled, on Wednesday, the pageant shared its program slate of the Sloan Science in Cinema Initiative, an annual custom on the occasion.
Offered in partnership between the Alfred P. Sloan Basis and SFFILM, the programming consists of Cyprien Vial’s volcano thriller “Magma,” recipient of the Sloan Science on Display screen Award with a money prize of $5,000, and Cristina Costantini’s documentary “Sally,” which is the Sloan Science on Display screen choice. “Sally” beforehand premiered on the 2025 Sundance Movie Pageant.
A free-to-the-public pageant discuss will characteristic director Lee Isaac Chung accepting the Sloan Science in Cinema Prize for final yr’s “Twisters,” adopted by an onstage dialog on the combination of science and cinematic instruments to depict excessive climate. There was a smidge of controversy in July 2024 over how “Twisters” by no means really mentions local weather change in dialogue.
“I simply don’t really feel like movies are supposed to be message-oriented,” Chung mentioned. “I believe what we’re doing is exhibiting the truth of what’s taking place on the bottom. We don’t shrink back from saying that issues are altering.”
Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari,” “The Mandalorian”) might be joined onstage by Kevin Kelleher, director of the World Methods Laboratory, who spent 26 years on the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and served as technical marketing consultant on each “Tornado” (1996) and “Twisters” (2024); Tapio Schneider, professor of Environmental Science and Engineering at Caltech Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences; “Twisters’” supervising sound editor and sound designer Al Nelson (“Jurassic World,” “High Gun: Maverick”) and Industrial Mild & Magic (ILM) visible results supervisor Florian Witzel (“Avengers,” “The Mandalorian”). The “Twisters” honor features a $20,000 money prize.
“We’re thrilled to award this yr’s Sloan Science in Cinema Prize to Lee Isaac Chung’s hit movie ‘Twisters’ and this yr’s Sloan Science on Display screen Award to Cyprien Vial’s thought-provoking movie ‘Magma,’” mentioned Doron Weber, vp and program director on the Alfred P. Sloan Basis. “Whereas taking some liberties with the science, these two catastrophe movies characteristic credible scientists as main protagonists and are based mostly on the most recent scientific analysis. They be a part of a nationwide program that has supported over 850 science and movie tasks with 20 companions and, along with supporting screenwriters at SFFILM, has honored excellent movies resembling ‘Oppenheimer,’ ‘Don’t Look Up,’ and ‘Hidden Figures.’”
The SFFILM Sloan Science in Cinema Initiative additionally encompasses two complete screenwriting grant applications. The SFFILM Sloan Science in Cinema Fellowship and the SFFILM Sloan Tales of Science Growth Fund present extra alternatives for SFFILM to supply extra assets to filmmakers all through the phases of growth and into manufacturing.