Fermat's Last Theorem

Comment j'ai détesté les maths

November 2013 •French

What is striking when you talk with mathematicians is that sparkle in their eyes, and their sudden joyful voice trying to share with you a concept, a theory. They continuously use words such as invention, beauty, freedom. You then ask yourself : how such a rich language, this quasi-philosophical proposition about the world becomes rejected by a majority, 'the only discipline where one prides itself to be bad at it'!

Counting from Infinity: Yitang Zhang and the Twin Prime Conjecture

January 2015 •English

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.

Newton: The Dark Heretic

March 2003 •English

A BBC documentary uncovers, for the first time, the original manuscript where Newton forecast the date of the end of the world. Newton, the father of modern mathematics, dedicated a large part of his life to a quest to decode the Bible which he believed to be the word of God. For over 50 years, he studied the Bible trying to unravel God's secret laws of the Universe. He was fanatical in his quest to discover the date for the Second Coming of Christ and the end of the world. Scholars have spent years trying to unravel Newton's writings on the Book of Revelation to establish when he thought the apocalypse was coming.

Clouds Are Not Spheres

January 2010 •English

Until recently geometry was 'cold', incapable of describing the irregular shape of a cloud, the slope of a mountain or the beauty of the human body. With fractal geometry, Benoit Mandelbrot gave us a language for our natural world. In this captivating documentary, the man himself explains this groundbreaking discovery.

Girls Who Fell in Love with Math

January 2017 •Chinese

The story of two girls, Alice Zhang and Fan Chung Graham, who grew up together in Taiwan in the 60s and dreamt of pursuing math.

Miyamoto and the Machine: The Story of KenKen

December 2020 •English

Ten years ago, Tetsuya Miyamoto had a dream to change the world through puzzles. In his classroom in Yokohama, KenKen was born. Enter a world where puzzles matter. From Tokyo to New York, from the classroom to the puzzle page to the tournament floor, Miyamoto and the Machine takes you into the brain of the inventor and the players, all while the machines of business and technology crash into artistry and humanity. Miyamoto believes each handcrafted puzzle tells a story, and if you look hard enough between the rows, columns, and cages of KenKen, you can find the story of the sensei who started a global phenomenon.

Outlier: the story of Katherine Johnson

November 2019 •English

Documentary about an African-American girl who grows up to help NASA put astronauts into space and bring them home safely. She was one of the main characters in the movie, "Hidden Figures." Includes interview with Johnson.

The Genius of George Boole

September 2015 •English

Narrated by Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons, The Genius of George Boole assembles academics and industry leaders from across the globe to explore the life and importance of one of the world’s greatest unsung heroes.

A Trip to Infinity

September 2022 •English

Does infinity exist? Can we experience the Infinite? In an animated film (created by artists from 10 countries) the world's most cutting-edge scientists and mathematicians go in search of the infinite and its mind-bending implications for the universe. Eminent mathematicians, particle physicists and cosmologists dive into infinity and its mind-bending implications for the universe.

The Genius of Srinivasa Ramanujan

March 2013 •English

A documentary about the life and work of seminal mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.

Eliyahu Rips: The Burning

May 2016 •English

In April 1969 Ilya (Eliyahu) Rips, then a young student of mathematics, tried to burn himself in a public square in Riga, Latvia protesting against the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. He was stopped and eventually sent to a psychiatric hospital for two years. Thanks to international pressure from the mathematical community in 1972 he was allowed to emigrate to Israel. Now he is considered one of the most brilliant mathematicians in the world. At the same time, for most people familiar with his name, Rips is first of all associated with the development of the so called Bible Code – a mathematical program allegedly helping to decipher hidden messages encoded in Torah – the Five Books of Moses. He is attacked by both the scientific and religious community, yet his research continues.

A Brilliant Madness

May 2002 •English

The life of the Nobel Prize-winning mathematician and schizophrenic John Nash — the inspiration for the feature film A Beautiful Mind — is a powerful exploration of how genius and madness can become intertwined.

Pythéas, l'astronome voyageur

November 2013 •French

The Secret Rules of Modern Living: Algorithms

September 2015 •English

Without us noticing, modern life has been taken over. Algorithms run everything from search engines on the internet to satnavs and credit card data security - they even help us travel the world, find love and save lives. Mathematician Professor Marcus du Sautoy demystifies the hidden world of algorithms. By showing us some of the algorithms most essential to our lives, he reveals where these 2,000-year-old problem solvers came from, how they work, what they have achieved and how they are now so advanced they can even programme themselves.

The Art of Life

January 2019 •English

As a rising star in the field of abstract mathematics, Michael discovered that he could see beauty and pattern where others could not. But his path was not to be inside academia, or even inside society. He went on a grand adventure to unify his Buddhism with his ability to see an expanded view of reality. He created beauty in a place where nobody else would, and made his friends amongst dolphins.

Julia Robinson and Hilbert's Tenth Problem

January 2008 •English

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.

Fermat's Room

October 2007 •Spanish

Four mathematicians are imprisoned in a shrinking room; with the walls closing in, they must try anything to escape this fatal puzzle.

Sneakers

September 1992 •English

When shadowy U.S. intelligence agents blackmail a reformed computer hacker and his eccentric team of security experts into stealing a code-breaking 'black box' from a Soviet-funded genius, they uncover a bigger conspiracy. Now, he and his 'sneakers' must save themselves and the world economy by retrieving the box from their blackmailers.

The Oxford Murders

January 2008 •English

At Oxford University, a professor and a grad student work together to try and stop a potential series of murders seemingly linked by mathematical symbols.

I.Q.

December 1994 •English

Albert Einstein helps a young man who's in love with Einstein's niece to catch her attention by pretending temporarily to be a great physicist.