The Athena Cinema receives national grant for Science on Screen series

The Athena Cinema announced it has received a generous award from the Coolidge Corner Theatre and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation of $6,000 in support of its 2019-20 Science on Screen event series, opening with The Science of Contraception on Nov. 5, at 7 p.m.

The free screening will present the 2007 award-winning comedy and feature film “Juno” with a pre-show talk by special guest Dr. Jane Balbo, assistant professor of family medicine in the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.  

Science on Screen began in 2012 as a series with the aim of pairing feature films and documentaries with acclaimed scientific experts and technological innovators. Science on Screen events are relative and engaging, offering dynamic speakers and industry-specific experts in an unplugged platform that is accessible to a diverse audience. The Athena is one of only three theaters in the nation who have hosted Science on Screen for eight seasons.

“We are excited to participate in our eighth season of Science on Screen. This program celebrates interdisciplinary collaborations in our community and highlights connections to science in creative and unexpected ways,” Alexandra Kamody, director of the Athena Cinema, said.

Science on Screen grantee theaters run three or more Science on Screen events per year, creatively pairing screenings of classic, cult, science fiction, and documentary films with presentations by notable experts from the industry of science and technology. Each film serves as a starting point for the speaker to introduce current research or technological advances in an engaging and way that engages general audiences.

The grant is funded by the Sloan Foundation’s Program for Public Understanding of Science, Technology & Economics and administered by the Coolidge Corner Theatre, the celebrated Massachusetts art-house cinema that launched the Science on Screen format in 2005.

Tickets for Science on Screen are free of charge. For more information, please visit AthenaCinema.com/ScienceOnScreen.

Athena Cinema
The Athena Cinema is one of downtown Athens unique historic treasures with a mission to bring the finest independent film to Southeastern Ohio and create a shared space for dialogue. Annually, The Athena Cinema hosts dozens of events including Ohio University student screenings, environmental panels, and the always-anticipated Athens International Film and Video Festival and attempt to bring the festival atmosphere alive year-round with quality programming and grassroots, community outreach. Find out more by visiting AthenaCinema.com.

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a not-for-profit, mission-driven grantmaking institution dedicated to improving the welfare of all through the advancement of scientific knowledge. Founded in 1934 by industrialist Alfred P. Sloan Jr., the Foundation disburses approximately $80 million in grants each year. The Foundation strives to be guided in all its actions by the values of the scientific enterprise: impartiality, empiricism, curiosity, rigor, and the conviction that a reasoned, systematic understanding of the forces of nature and society, when applied inventively and wisely, can lead to a better world for all. Learn more at sloan.org.