For the 7th consecutive year, the $25,000 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Award will be presented at the Hamptons International Film Festival. The cash prize is awarded to a feature-length film that explores science and technology themes in fresh, innovative ways and depicts scientists and engineers in a realistic and compelling fashion.
This year's recipient of the Sloan Feature Film Prize is Darren Aronofsky's THE FOUNTAIN, a
Warner Bros. Pictures and Regency Enterprises release, starring
Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz and
Ellen Burstyn. Written and directed by Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream), THE FOUNTAIN is an odyssey about one man's eternal struggle to save the woman he loves. His epic journey begins in 16th-century Spain, where conquistador Tomas (Hugh Jackman) commences his search for the Fountain of Youth, the legendary entity believed to grant immortality. As modern-day scientist Tommy Creo, he desperately struggles to find a cure for the cancer that is killing his beloved wife, Isabel (Rachel Weisz). Traveling through deep space as a 26th-century astronaut, Tom begins to grasp the mysteries that have consumed him for a millennium. The three stories converge into one truth, as the Thomas of all periods—warrior, scientist, and explorer—comes to terms with life, love, death and rebirth.
"Although its themes and characters sprawl over one thousand years, from the 16th to the 26th centuries, and invoke myth and fantasy as well as science, Darren Aronofsky's powerful central story is about a contemporary scientist who tries to save his beloved wife from cancer through scientific research and experimentation. In accurately depicting the enormous potential-- and very real limits-of modern scientific efforts to cure disease and extend human life, this beautiful symphony on what it means to lose someone you love pushes the frontiers of time and space to reveal that humanity and mortality may be inextricable, and only art, for now, can bestow immortality." - Doron Weber
"We are extremely grateful to The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation," says Denise Kasell, Director of The Hamptons International Film Festival. "This longstanding partnership has allowed The Festival to recognize a unique group of artists. Darren Aronofsky is a consummate storyteller. He is not afraid to take chances and THE FOUNTAIN demonstrates this. The Hamptons Film festival is honored that he is accepting the Sloan award. We are encouraged that Mr Aronofsky has focused his attention in part on science, a discipline that mirrors the human condition, and so remarkably positioned scientific discovery against the oldest dilemma, our mortality."
The Hamptons/ Sloan feature Film Prize comes from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's program in public understanding of science, which also includes The Sundance and Tribeca Film Festivals, to form part of a broader effort to stimulate leading artists in film, television, and theater to create more credible works about science and technology. Past Hamptons/Sloan Prize winners include Su Rynard's KARDIA, Bill Condon's KINSEY, Ryan Esslinger's MADNESS AND GENIUS and Michael Apted's ENIGMA.
The Hamptons International Film Festival was founded to celebrate independent film - long, short, narrative and documentary - introducing a unique and varied spectrum of international films and filmmakers to our audiences. The festival is committed to exhibiting films that express fresh voices and differing global perspectives, with the hope that these programs will enlighten audiences, provide invaluable exposure for filmmakers and present inspired entertainment for all.
