‘Humans in the Loop’ wins Sloan Distribution Grant, secures spot in Oscar race

NEW DELHI: The feature film ‘Humans in the Loop’ by Aranya Sahay has officially joined the race for the 98th Academy Awards, for which it was selected for the prestigious Sloan Distribution Grant awarded by ‘Film Independent’ in partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. This recognition supports not only the U.S. distribution of the film but also qualifies it for Oscar consideration.

The Sloan Distribution Grant supports narrative films that substantively engage with science or technology through story or character. The Sloan program has supported more than 850 projects over the past two decades, including award-winning titles such as ‘Hidden Figures’, ‘The Imitation Game’, ‘The Man Who Knew Infinity’ and ‘Oppenheimer’. This honour makes Sahay and producer Mathivanan Rajendran official Film Independent Fellows.

‘Humans in the Loop’ tells the story of an indigenous woman who works in a rural data annotation centre in India, incorporating the ethical dilemmas and inequalities within machine learning systems into the plot. It puts empathy, cultural rootedness and lived experience at the core.

“We stand at a critical moment in humanity’s relationship with artificial intelligence,” said writer-director Aranya Sahay. “This grant enables us to carry that conversation across the U.S. The film is about the human heartbeat that exists within technology and I’m grateful to Film Independent and the Sloan Foundation for recognising the invisible labour and stories behind AI.”

The producer, Mathivanan Rajendran, added that the film builds on the work they have been cultivating through the Museum of Imagined Futures. “We’ve been creating space for technologists and creatives to rethink how stories about technology are told. The Sloan Foundation’s support - and now the film’s entry into the Oscar race - validates Aranya’s belief that creatives can influence the future of tech.”

Film Independent praised the film’s approach. “We are proud to support ‘Humans in the Loop’ through the Sloan Distribution Grant,” said Dea Vazquez, Associate Director of Fiction Programs. “Its rigorous, compassionate lens on AI and technology mirrors the mission of the grant.”

The project hired Misaq Kazimi as executive producer early this month to spearhead its U.S. distribution strategy. Kazimi said impact screenings of the film have already begun, including a weeklong showcase in Los Angeles and sessions at UCLA. Filmmakers, academics and technologists came together at the events to discuss the film’s central question: how responsibility and humanity shape AI. Now that it has received a U.S. theatrical release and has satisfied all the qualifying thresholds, ‘Humans in the Loop’ is officially qualified for Oscar consideration and will vie for ‘Best Original Screenplay’ in the 98th Academy Awards competition.