Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize Awarded to Computer Chess at 2013 Sundance Film Festival Sundance Institute / Alfred P. Sloan Lab Fellowship Also AnnouncedPosted Jan 24, 2013
Park City, UT Sundance Institute today announced the winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, as well as the recipient of the Alfred P. Sloan Lab Fellowship, presented through the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program.
These activities, as well as a panel at the Festival, are part of the Sundance Institute Science-in-Film Initiative, which is made possible by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. 2013 marks the 10th Anniversary of the Alfred P. Sloan Science in Film initiative, which supports the development and exhibition of new independent film projects that explore science and technology themes or that depict scientists, engineers and mathematicians in engaging and innovative ways. The initiative includes the Sundance Institute / Alfred P. Sloan Commissioning Grant, and a recipient for 2013 will be announced soon.
We are delighted to recognize Andrew Bujalskis quirky, original film, Computer Chess as this years winner and to add it to our impressive ten year list of Sloan Sundance winners, said Doron Weber, Vice President, Programs at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Coupled with Nicole Kassels Screenwriting Lab fellowship for a script based on Barbara Kingsolvers Prodigal Summer' and a Commissioning Grant for another exciting science screenplay that we will announce shortly, it is clear that the 10-year partnership between Sloan and Sundance continues to set a new standard for science and technology films.
Said Keri Putnam, Executive Director, Sundance Institute, The Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize recognizes projects grounded in the exploration of math, science and technology. Advances in these fields are constantly altering our world, and we are proud to be able to provide an outlet for artists developing scripts pursuing these critical themes.
Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize
Computer Chess, directed and written by Andrew Bujalski, has been awarded the 2013 Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize and will receive a $20,000 cash award by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Now in its tenth year, the Prize is selected by a jury of film and science professionals and presented to outstanding feature films focusing on science or technology as a theme, or depicting a scientist, engineer or mathematician as a major character.
Computer Chess is an existential comedy about the brilliant men who taught machines to play chess back when the machines seemed clumsy and we seemed smart. The cast includesPatrick Riester, Myles Paige, James Curry, Robin Schwartz, Gerald Peary and Wiley Wiggins. The jury presented the award to the film for its off-beat and formalistically adventurous exploration of questions of artificial intelligence and human connections, unfolding during an early computer chess tournament.
Previous Alfred P. Sloan Prize Winners include: Jake Schreier, Christopher Ford, Robot & Frank (2012); Musa Syeed, Valley of Saints (2012); Mike Cahill and Brit Marling, Another Earth (2011); Diane Bell, Obselidia (2010); Max Mayer, Adam (2009); Alex Rivera, Sleep Dealer (2008); Shi-Zheng Chen, Dark Matter (2007); Andrucha Waddington, The House of Sand (2006); Werner Herzog, Grizzly Man (2005), Shane Carruth, Primer (2004) and Marc Decena, Dopamine (2003). Several past winners have also been awarded Jury Awards at the Festival, including the Grand Jury Prize for Primer, the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for Sleep Dealer and the Excellence in Cinematography Award for Obselidia.
Andrew Bujalski
Andrew Bujalski was born in Boston in 1977 and studied film at Harvard's Department of Visual and Environmental Studies. He wrote and directed the films Funny Ha Ha, Mutual Appreciation, and Beeswax. His first three films all appeared on the New York Times's Best of the Year lists. He types 89 words per minute.
As previously announced, this year's Alfred P. Sloan jury members are:
Jon Amiel
After studies in English literature, Jon Amiel graduated from Cambridge University and ran the Oxford and Cambridge Shakespeare Company, which often toured the USA. He became the Hampstead Theatre Companys literary manager and began directing there, relocating to the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Amiel joined the BBC as a story editor, studied television directing and did TV work through the late 1970s and early 1980s, scoring attention in 1985 with The Silent Twins (1985), an unforgettable recreation of the tragic silent twins June and Jennifer Gibbons, who spoke only to each other.
After international acclaim for The Singing Detective (1986), Amiels feature film debut, Queen of Hearts (1989), premiered at Cannes, was named Best First Film at the Montreal Festival and won the Birmingham Festivals Best British Feature Film Award. Amiels Tune in Tomorrow... (1990), based on Mario Vargas Llosas Aunt Julia And The Scriptwriter, won the Deauville Festivals Prix Publique. He followed with the period drama Sommersby (1993), the thriller Copycat (1995), The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997) and moved into action-adventure with Entrapment (1999) and The Core (2003).
Paula Apsell
As Director of the WGBH Science Unit and Senior Executive Producer of the PBS science series NOVA, Paula Apsell has overseen the production of hundreds of acclaimed science documentaries, including such distinguished miniseries as The Fabric of the Cosmos with Brian Greene, Origins with Neil deGrasse Tyson, Making Stuff with David Pogue and the magazine spin-off NOVA scienceNOW. NOVA is the nation's most watched science series, a top site on pbs.org, and recipient of every major broadcasting honor, including the Emmy, the Peabody, and the
