The Sloan-supported feature film ADVENTURES OF A MATHEMATICIAN will makes its New York premiere at the New York Jewish Film Festival, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Based on the true story of Polish Jewish mathematician Stanislaw Ulam, the film tells the story of Ulam's immigration to the U.S. during World War II to work on the Manhattan Project and the moral and ethical questions his participation incited in himself. The film stars Philippe Tlokinski, Fabian Kociecki, Esther Garrel, Joel Basman, and Sam Keeley.

ADVENTURES OF A MATHEMATICIAN is written and directed by Thor Klein, who spoke to us together with his producer Lena Vurma, about the making of the film back in 2017 when it received its first Sloan grant from the Tribeca Film Institute. About understanding Ulam's mathematics, Klein said: "There is the assumption that mathematics is a secret pattern that is hidden in nature that we can discover. When I started my research that was my personal conjecture. I would ask every mathematician I met, is it something that is out there? Or is it rather something we develop in our mind? I assumed that the mathematicians would tell me, of course it’s out there. But in fact, they said the opposite. Most would tell me that mathematics is a product of pure imagination. Essentially, Stan was saying the same thing. If you want to see certain patterns somewhere then you will find them. I had to learn to see the pure beauty in mathematics without being able to understand all the grammar."

The film will be available to rent via Film at Lincoln Center's virtual cinema starting Monday, January 18, until the 26.

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