'Flash' wins Sloan Foundation Award

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NEW YORK, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- The movie "Flash of Genius," starring Greg Kinnear, has won the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Award, organizers of the Hamptons International Film Festival said.

The film is to have a special Sloan/HIFF New York premiere Oct. 2 at the Museum of Modern Art.

This is the ninth consecutive year the $25,000 prize is being presented as part of the festival. It 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," the festival said in a news release.

Written by Philip Railsback and based on the New Yorker article by John Seabrook, "Flash of Genius" co-stars Alan Alda, Lauren Graham, Dermot Mulroney and Jake Abel.

It is based on the true story of college professor and part-time inventor Robert Kearns's long battle with the U.S. automobile industry over credit for his invention -- the intermittent car windshield wiper.

"Kearns's story of unwavering dedication to the sanctity and innovation of his invention is just the kind of tale that we're happy to share with our audiences," Program Director David Nugent said in a statement.