Free Virtual Film Screening & Panel: "Secrets of the Surface" with the Jacob Burns Film Center

Sunday, April 25, 2021
7:00pm Eastern Time (4:00pm Pacific Time)

The Jacob Burns Film Center (Pleasantville, New York) will host a free virtual screening of the MSRI documentary film Secrets of the Surface: The Mathematical Vision of Maryam Mirzakhani (2020) on Sunday, April 25. 

Maryam Mirzakhani was the remarkable mathematician who, in 2014, became only the first woman—and first Iranian—to receive the Fields Medal, often regarded as the Nobel Prize of mathematics.  But more than just a giant milestone. Mirzakhani’s journey was unusual, and her particular mathematical vision was visually striking, lending itself to a wonderful use of animation in this film that chronicles both her life and ideas.  It’s a story that’s both uplifting and touching, as Mirzakhani was struck down by cancer in 2017 at the prime of her career, just 40 years old. The film will be followed by a conversation with Mirzakhani’s colleagues moderated by MSRI Director David Eisenbud, as well as the film’s director, George Csicsery.  —Brian Ackerman, Founding Director of Film Programming

Check out this CNN interview for more on Mirzakhani’s legacy.

The film will only be available to stream on Sunday, April 25 at 7:00pm Eastern (4:00pm Pacific), and will be followed by a panel discussion at 8:10 pm Eastern (5:10pm Pacific) on the JBFC YouTube Channel. Panelists include:

• Amie Wilkinson, Professor, Department of Mathematics, University of Chicago
• Hélène Barcelo, MSRI Deputy Director
• Cumrun Vafa, Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, Harvard University
• George Csicsery, Film Director
• Moderated by David Eisenbud, MSRI Director