Syndication of the Film Secrets of the Surface: The Mathematical Vision of Maryam Mirzakhani

该奖项支持制作一部关于数学家Maryam Mirzakhani的纪录片，该纪录片将于2021年11月或2022年3月通过美国公共电视联盟（APT）在全国公共电视上播出。这部名为《表面的秘密：玛丽亚姆·米尔扎哈尼的数学视觉》的纪录片由乔治·奇西利执导，于2020年1月在科罗拉多州丹佛市举行的联合数学会议上全球首映。这部60分钟的电影在DVD和流媒体上广泛发行，自首映以来，在大学和电影节上进行了多次公开放映。这部电影通过米尔扎哈尼的人类故事向公众传达了数学思想，米尔扎哈尼是一位杰出的数学家，也是第一位获得菲尔兹奖的女性（2014年）。这部电影记录了她在2017年英年早逝之前，在哈佛大学读研期间在伊朗的教育，以及她在数学上的无数突破。影片中讲述的米尔扎哈尼的故事对学习STEM学科的女孩和选择数学作为职业的女性来说是鼓舞人心的。作为一名伊朗女性，她在自己的领域达到了顶峰，这表明了克服性别和文化障碍的可能性。这部电影还展示了伊朗和美国之间巨大的文化差异是如何通过对知识和纯粹科学的追求来克服的。为公共电视播放而修改电影包括编辑、增加所需的模块、封闭字幕和其他技术工作，以及针对公共电视系统中个别电台节目编导的宣传工作。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This NSF award supports the preparation of a documentary film about mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani for national broadcast on public television via American Public Television syndication (APT) in November 2021 or March 2022. This documentary, "Secrets of the Surface: The Mathematical Vision of Maryam Mirzakhani", directed by George Csicsery, had its world premiere at the Joint Mathematics Meeting in Denver, Colorado in January 2020. The 60-minute film has had wide distribution in DVD and streaming, and numerous public screenings at universities and film festivals since the premiere. The film has proven highly effective at conveying mathematical ideas to the general public through the human story of Mirzakhani, a leading mathematician who became the first woman to win the Fields Medal (2014). The film chronicles her education in Iran through graduate school at Harvard, and her numerous mathematical breakthroughs, before her untimely death in 2017. Mirzakhani’s story, as told in the film, has proven inspirational to girls studying STEM subjects and to women choosing mathematics as a career. Her example as an Iranian woman who reached the top of her field demonstrates the possibility of overcoming gender and cultural barriers. The film also shows how formidable cultural differences, in this case between Iran and the United States, can be overcome through the pursuit of knowledge and pure science.Modification of the film for public television broadcast involves editing, adding required modules, closed captioning, and other technical work, as well as promotional efforts aimed at individual station programmers in the public television system.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.