NASHVILLE, TENN. (TN Tribune) — The Belcourt Theatre takes part in the ninth annual National Evening of Science on Screen on Tuesday, March 22 at 8 p.m. The evening includes a screening of the film SOYLENT GREEN, starring Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson, an ecological dystopian thriller from 1973 that takes place in 2022, set in an overpopulated and starving New York City. 


After the film, there will be a discussion on “The Fate of Food in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World” with Amanda Little, a professor of journalism and science writing at Vanderbilt University, as well as a columnist for Bloomberg. She is author of The Fate of Food: What We’ll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World and Power Trip: The Story of America’s Love Affair With Energy. 


“We’re honored to again be a part of the National Evening of Science on Screen this year as we join with arthouses and venues across the country in celebrating the connection between art and science,” said Zack Hall, the Belcourt’s Programming and Education Coordinator and In-House Media Producer. “Highlighting SOYLENT GREEN, a vision of the year 2022 made 49 years ago, seemed as good an opportunity as any to discuss the ways cautionary speculative tales can give us a roadmap to understand future concerns while also offering us surprisingly accurate representations of what could happen when these concerns are left unaddressed. We’re honored to have writer Amanda Little take us through the very real possibilities of a food insecure future following the film.”


The Belcourt has participated in Science on Screen since 2014, a program made possible with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation through a grant from the Coolidge Corner Theater. Science on Screen pairs films with science and technology experts, with each film as a jumping-off point for expert speakers to explore related scientific or technological topics in ways that engage general audiences. In addition to this year’s National Evening of Science on Screen event, the Belcourt recently showed AFTER YANG with a post-screening on “The Inner Life of AI (and Us) with Maithilee Kunda, assistant professor of computer science at Vanderbilt and director of Vanderbilt’s Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence and Visual Analogical Systems. And on Tuesday, April 5 at 8 p.m., the Belcourt will screen 1995’s STRANGE DAYS from director Kathryn Bigelow, a cautionary cyberpunk noir set at the turn of the millennium, with a speaker and topic to be confirmed shortly. 


Additional details about the national Science on Screen initiative can be found at scienceonscreen.org, which also features archival program info, videos, venue information, and grant guidelines.


About the Belcourt Theatre The Belcourt Theatre is Nashville’s nonprofit film center, a cultural institution that engages, enriches and educates audiences through innovative film programming in our theatre, our community, and beyond. Housed in Nashville’s only neighborhood theatre, the Belcourt presents the best of independent, documentary, world, and repertory cinema 365 days a year, while promoting visual literacy and providing opportunities for people of all ages to experience the power of film. First opened in 1925 as a silent movie house, the theatre was home to the Grand Ole Opry from 1934-35. The theatre reopened as a nonprofit art house in 1999. The Belcourt Theatre is funded in part by Metro Arts: Nashville Office of Arts & Culture, the Tennessee Arts Commission and the National Arts Endowment, and is grateful for their support of our nonprofit mission.

About the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation The New-York based Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, founded in 1934, makes grants in science, technology, and economic performance. Sloan’s program in public understanding of science and technology, directed by Doron Weber, supports books, radio, film, television, theater and new media to reach a wide, non-specialized audience. Sloan’s Film Program encourages filmmakers to create more realistic and accurate stories about science and technology and to challenge existing stereotypes about scientists and engineers in the popular imagination. Sloan has partnered with some of the top film schools in the country—including AFI, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, NYU, UCLA, and USC—and established annual awards in screenwriting and film production, along with an annual best-of-the best Student Grand Jury Prize administered by the Tribeca Film Institute. The Foundation also supports screenplay development programs at Sundance, Tribeca, Hamptons International Film Festival and Film Independent’s Producer’s Lab and has developed such film projects as Morten Tyldum’s THE IMITATION GAME, Rob Meyer’s A BIRDER’S GUIDE TO EVERYTHING, Musa Syeed’s VALLEY OF SAINTS, and Andrew Bujalski’s COMPUTER CHESS. The Foundation also has an active theater program and commissions over a dozen science plays each year from the Ensemble Studio Theater and Manhattan Theatre Club as well as supporting select productions across the country. Recent grants have supported Nell Benjamin’s The Explorer’s Club, Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, Sharr White’s The Other Place, Lucas Hnath’s Isaac’s Eye, and Anna Ziegler’s Photograph 51. For more information about the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, visit sloan.org. The New York based Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, founded in 1934, makes grants in science, technology, and economic performance. Sloan’s program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology, directed by Doron Weber, supports books, radio, film, television, theater and new media to reach a wide, non-specialized audience.
Sloan’s Film Program encourages filmmakers to create more realistic and compelling stories about science and technology and to challenge existing stereotypes about scientists and engineers in the popular imagination. Sloan has partnered with some of the top film schools in the country — including AFI, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, NYU, UCLA and USC — and established annual awards in screenwriting and film production, along with an annual best-of-the best Student Grand Jury Prize administered by the Tribeca Film Institute. The Foundation also supports screenplay development programs with the Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, the San Francisco Film Society, the Black List, and Film Independent’s Producing Lab and Fast Track program and has helped develop such film projects as Morten Tyldum’s THE IMITATION GAME,  Jake Schrier’s ROBOT & FRANK,, Mathew Brown’s THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY,  Michael Almereyda’s EXPERIMENTER, Rob Meyer’s A BIRDER’S GUIDE TO EVERYTHING,  Musa Syeed’s VALLEY OF SAINTS,  and Andrew Bujalski’s COMPUTER CHESS. 
The Foundation also has an active theater program and commissions about twenty science plays each year from the Ensemble Studio Theatre and Manhattan Theatre Club as well as supporting select productions across the country. Recent grants have supported Nick Payne’s Constellations, a Broadway hit staring Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson, Deborah Zoe Laufer’s Informed Consent, co-produced with Primary Stages at the Duke, Lucas Hnath’s Isaac’s Eye, and Anna Ziegler’s Photograph 51, in London’s West End starring Nicole Kidman.
For more information about the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, please visit sloan.org