The clear-cut winner of the LAPC's Veritas Award for the Best Film Based on or Inspired by Real Events and People in 2016, determined by a membership vote, is 20th Century Fox’s "Hidden Figures," written by Theodore Melfi and Allison Schroeder, based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly and directed by Theodore Melfi; starring Octavia Spencer, Taraji P. Henson and Janelle Monae.
"Hidden Figures" is the untold story of a team of African-American women mathematicians who served a vital role for NASA during the early days of the struggling U.S. space program. The story highlights the work of the visionary trio who triumphed over both racial and gender bias to launch astronaut John Glenn into orbit and thereby lift the spirits of a nation and inspire generations to dream beyond the heavens.
"It seems fitting our members would choose 'Hidden Figures' for our Veritas Award. Had it not been for the book and this movie, the importance of these women might never have been widely known," said LA Press Club President Robert Kovacik, anchor/reporter at NBC4 Southern California.