Directing

George Paul Csicsery

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Hookers poster
8.0

A short documentary profiling several COYOTE members and their founder Margo St. James as they argue for legalizing and decriminalizing prostitution.

Hookers

1975

Hard Problems poster
7.5

Hard Problems is about the extraordinary gifted students who represented the United States in 2006 at the world's toughest math competition: The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). It is the story of six American high school students who competed with 500 others from 90 countries in Ljublijana, Slovenia. The film shows the dedication and perseverance of these remarkably talented students, the rigorous preparation they undertake, and the joy they get out of solving challenging math problems. It captures the spirit that infuses the mathematical quest at the highest level.

Hard Problems

2008

No artwork available
NR

Catherine's dream, full of anxieties about sexual pursuit and their resolution in her liberation, comes to dominate her waking hours. Elements of the dream keep intruding on her day, through coffee and love. The dream replaces her fragmented experiences with a more lyrical mood that persists for the rest of the film.

With Catherine

1969

No artwork available
NR

A portrait of two very different mathematicians, porridge pulleys and Pi features Fields medalist Vaughan Jones, one of the world's foremost knot theorists and an avid windsurfer, and Hendrik lenstra, a number theorist with a passion for Homer and all things classical. Porridge pulleys and Pi poses the question: how do we get first-rate research mathematicians? Hendrik lenstra and Vaughan Jones have had an extraordinary impact on mathematics; this charming documentary gives the viewer a taste of their personalities, mathematical and otherwise. A whirlwind tour of knots, geonomics, cryptography, music, Homer, elliptic curves, art, and windsurfing, the video contains sections on the history of Pi, and a suprising discovery involving a cocoa tin and an Escher print.

porridge pulleys and Pi: two mathematical journeys

2004

Secrets of the Surface: The Mathematical Vision of Maryam Mirzakhani poster
6.7

Filmed in Canada, Iran, and the United States, Secrets of the Surface: The Mathematical Vision of Maryam Mirzakhani examines the life and mathematical work of Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian immigrant to the United States who became a superstar in her field. In 2014, she was both the first woman and the first Iranian to be honored by mathematics' highest prize, the Fields Medal. Mirzakhani's contributions are explained by leading mathematicians and illustrated by animated sequences. Her mathematical colleagues from around the world, as well as former teachers, classmates, and students in Iran today, convey the deep impact of her achievements. The path of her education, success on Iran's Math Olympiad team, and her brilliant work, make Mirzakhani an ideal role model for girls looking toward careers in science and mathematics. Written by George Csicsery

Secrets of the Surface: The Mathematical Vision of Maryam Mirzakhani

2020

No artwork available
NR

Filmmaker George Paul Csicsery examines the life and work of Chinese mathematician Shiing-shen Chern.

Taking the Long View: The Life of Shiing-shen Chern

2010

No artwork available
NR

Filmmaker George Paul Csicsery examines the life and work of Chinese mathematician Shiing-shen Chern.

Taking the Long View: The Life of Shiing-shen Chern

2010

Journeys of Black Mathematicians: Forging Resilience poster
NR

Severely underrepresented in mathematics, African Americans have played important roles as researchers and educators in the field. Journeys of Black Mathematicians: Forging Resilience, the first of two documentary films, traces the history of the individuals who worked as pioneers in expanding the presence of African Americans in mathematics. In addition to the rich histories to be covered and compelling stories of contemporary Black American mathematicians, Forging Resilience showcases innovative educational programs in math for African American students at every level from grade school through undergraduate and postdocs, portraying their experiences, struggles and accomplishments. The historical characters and their stories will be interwoven to support themes identified in the lives and experiences of the students and aspiring mathematicians we plan to follow in various institutional settings as they explore the field and possibilities for future careers in mathematics.

Journeys of Black Mathematicians: Forging Resilience

2024

N is a Number: A Portrait of Paul Erdős poster
7.2

In an age when genius is a mere commodity, it is useful to look at a person who led a rich life without the traditional trappings of success. A man with no home and no job, Paul Erdös was the most prolific mathematician who ever lived. Born in Hungary in 1913, Erdös wrote and co-authored over 1,500 papers and pioneered several fields in theoretical mathematics. At the age of 83 he still spent most of his time on the road, going from math meeting to math meeting, continually working on problems. He died on September 20, 1996 while attending such a meeting in Warsaw, Poland.

N is a Number: A Portrait of Paul Erdős

1993

Navajo Math Circles poster
5.0

Examining the collaboration of accomplished mathematicians and math educators with children and teachers in the Navajo educational system.

Navajo Math Circles

2016

Where the Heart Roams poster
9.0

Romance novels comprise nearly half the paperback books sold in America. Chiffon-shrouded, jewel-laden, flower-bedecked Barbara Cartland has written hundreds of them. And filmmaker George Csicsery has given his heart to this fascinating subculture where all the women are beautiful, all the men are mysterious and all the endings are happy.

Where the Heart Roams

1987

Hungry for Monsters poster
6.0

Declared "a tale from a New Age witch hunt," George Paul Csicsery's documentary exposes the malpractices of the mental health and legal community during one family's harrowing ordeal. In 1990, 15-year-old Nicole accused her father of molesting her and claimed a host of bizarre incidents had happened, including satanic rituals, a murder and sex orgies. The family tries to piece together the truth despite overzealous prosecutors and therapists.

Hungry for Monsters

2004

No artwork available
NR

Julia Robinson and Hilbert's Tenth Problem features a heroine driven by the quest to solve one of the central problems of modern mathematics. She rises above formidable obstacles to assume a leading role in her field. Julia Robinson was the first woman elected to the mathematical section of the National Academy of Sciences, and the first woman to become president of the American Mathematical Society. While tracing Robinson's contribution to the solution of Hilbert's tenth problem, the film illuminates how her work led to an unusual friendship between Russian and American colleagues at the height of the Cold War.

Julia Robinson and Hilbert's Tenth Problem

2008

No artwork available
NR

Julia Robinson and Hilbert's Tenth Problem features a heroine driven by the quest to solve one of the central problems of modern mathematics. She rises above formidable obstacles to assume a leading role in her field. Julia Robinson was the first woman elected to the mathematical section of the National Academy of Sciences, and the first woman to become president of the American Mathematical Society. While tracing Robinson's contribution to the solution of Hilbert's tenth problem, the film illuminates how her work led to an unusual friendship between Russian and American colleagues at the height of the Cold War.

Julia Robinson and Hilbert's Tenth Problem

2008

No artwork available
NR

In October 1967, documentary filmmaker George Paul Csicsery was beaten by police at an antiwar demonstration in Oakland, California. Thirty years later, he set out to find the policemen who were working that day. His only clue-a startling news photograph of himself begin clubbed by stern-faced cops. Take a trip back to America's turbulent 1960s as Csicsery visits a group of retired Oakland, California, policemen, who recall their days battling antiwar demonstrators and Black Panthers.

The Thursday Club

2005

Television: The Enchanted Mirror poster
NR

Details the impact of television on people and social institutions.

Television: The Enchanted Mirror

1981

Counting from Infinity: Yitang Zhang and the Twin Prime Conjecture poster
7.0

In April 2013, a lecturer at the University of New Hampshire submitted a paper to the Annals of Mathematics. Within weeks word spread: a little-known mathematician, with no permanent job, working in complete isolation, had made an important breakthrough toward solving the Twin Prime Conjecture. Yitang Zhang's techniques for bounding the gaps between primes soon led to rapid progress by the Polymath Group, and a further innovation by James Maynard.

Counting from Infinity: Yitang Zhang and the Twin Prime Conjecture

2015

Counting from Infinity: Yitang Zhang and the Twin Prime Conjecture poster
7.0

In April 2013, a lecturer at the University of New Hampshire submitted a paper to the Annals of Mathematics. Within weeks word spread: a little-known mathematician, with no permanent job, working in complete isolation, had made an important breakthrough toward solving the Twin Prime Conjecture. Yitang Zhang's techniques for bounding the gaps between primes soon led to rapid progress by the Polymath Group, and a further innovation by James Maynard.

Counting from Infinity: Yitang Zhang and the Twin Prime Conjecture

2015