‘The Martian’ Wins Inaugural Sloan Science in Cinema Prize from San Francisco Film Society (EXCLUSIVE VIDEO)

On hand to discuss the film’s painstaking efforts to remain true to the science behind space travel were “The Martian” producer Aditya Sood; Andy Weir, whose novel provided the source material for Ridley Scott’s Oscar contender; and Christopher McKay, a planetary scientist at NASA Ames Research Center. (Watch exclusive video from the event above.) 

READ MORE: “Ridley Scott and ‘The Martian’ Head for Multiple Oscars (EXCLUSIVE VIDEO)” 

“We wanted to live up to those ideals and make a movie that wasn’t entertaining and scientifically accurate,” Sood said upon accepting the award, “but make a movie that was entertaining because it was scientifically accurate.” 

The prize is a fitting one for “The Martian,” whose most oft-repeated line is marooned astronaut Mark Watney’s (Matt Damon) cheeky “I’m going to have to science the shit out of this.”

Designed to draw attention to narrative feature films that illuminate the
relevance of science and technology or challenge existing
stereotypes about scientists, engineers, or mathematicians, the new award is part of SFFS and the Sloan Foundation’s larger initiative to bring communities of artists and scientists together. The
initiative also features the Sloan Science in Cinema Filmmaker Fellowship,
supporting filmmakers developing science-themed screenplays; and Sloan Science in Cinema at SFIFF, a new spotlight program set to debut at
the 2016 the San Francisco International Film Festival.