George Csicsery

George Paul Csicsery (born March 17, 1948) is a Hungarian-American writer and independent filmmaker who has directed 35 films including performance films, dramatic shorts and documentaries. He is best known for his documentaries about mathematicians and mathematical communities.[1]

George Csicsery
George Csicsery
BornMarch 17, 1948
Regensburg, Germany
EducationUC Berkeley (BA)
San Francisco State University (MFA)
Occupation
  • filmmaker
  • producer
  • writer
Known forN is a Number and other documentary films
Websitezalafilms.com

Life and career

George Csicsery was born in Regensburg, Germany to Hungarian parents who had fled their native country after WWII (his father was a monarchist army officer).[1] In 1951, the family emigrated to Cleveland, Ohio. After a series of menial jobs his father became a successful stained glass and enamel artist and his mother became head of the slide library at the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA), and assistant to renowned Asian art historian, Sherman Lee.

George obtained a BA in Comparative Religion from UC Berkeley (1969), and an MFA in Film Production from San Francisco State University (1972).[1]

He taught film editing at Film Arts Foundation in San Francisco from 1982 to 1997, and general cinema courses to undergraduates at San Francisco State University in 1996 and at UC Davis in 1998.[2]

He once said, "I am interested in people who can find happiness in creating their own world. That is true of mathematicians and romance writers. These people are creating universes different from where they live."[2] In 2009 he received the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics (JPBM) Communications Award for his work showing the process of mathematical thinking through the medium of film.[3]

Csicsery has written about the difficulties of being a displaced person after WWII, and about his two brothers−one of whom fought in the Hungarian Revolution.[4]

Filmography

Films about mathematicians and mathematics

Much of Csicsery's work since the early 1990s has been about eminent mathematicians or the mathematics community in general. These include:

He worked with Scott Kim and Karl Schaffer to produce a series of films about string polyhedra and other recreational math topics.[18]

References
  1. Zala Films Official site for films by George Csicsery
  2. Math Films, Yes - But So Much More by Doniphan Blair, Cinesource Magazine, Oct 31, 2020
  3. 2009 Communications Award JPBM
  4. George Csicsery, Displaced Person Vimeo interview in 2015
  5. Songs Along A Stony Road on IMdB
  6. The Thursday Club on IMdB
  7. Hungry for Monsters on IMdB
  8. Where the Heart Roams on IMdB
  9. Hookers on IMdB
  10. Secrets of the Surface: The Mathematical Vision of Maryam Mirzakhani on IMdB
  11. Navajo Math Circles on IMdB
  12. Counting from Infinity: Yitang Zhang and the Twin Prime Conjecture on IMdB
  13. Taking the Long View: The Life of Shiing-shen Chern on IMdB
  14. I Want to Be a Mathematician on IMdB
  15. Julia Robinson and Hilbert's Tenth Problem on IMdB
  16. Hard Problems: The Road to the World's Toughest Math Contest on IMdB
  17. N Is a Number: A Portrait of Paul Erdös on IMdB
  18. A series of short films by George Csicsery on string polyhedra and related work mathdance.org
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