Mathematics, Love and Death: Double screening of short films by Mishima and Frenkel-Graves December 2, 2010

Mathematics, Love and Death: Double screening of short films by Mishima and Frenkel-Graves Film - Short | December 1 | 7-9 p.m. | Landmark Shattuck Cinemas
Location: 2230 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704 Speaker/Performer: Edward Frenkel, Department of Mathematics, UC Berkeley Sponsor: Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI)
Mathematical Sciences Research Institute and Berkeley Video and Film Festivals present

Special screening of two short films:

Rite of Love and Death (30 min)

by Yukio Mishima and

Rites of Love and Math (26 min)

by Reine Graves and Edward Frenkel.

This will be the North American theatrical premiere of Rites of Love and Math. Edward Frenkel, Professor of Mathematics at UC Berkeley, co-wrote and co-directed it and also played the lead. The film, a sprawling allegory about Truth and Beauty, Love and Death, Mathematics and Tattoo, premiered in Paris in April of 2010 and has played at international film festivals and other venues around the world. It has been featured in Le Monde, The Huffington Post, Science magazine, and other publications as well as radio and TV programs in the US and Europe.

See http://math.berkeley.edu/frenkel/RITES for more details.

This film was inspired by the cult classic Rite of Love and Death (also known as Yukoku) by Yukio Mishima, one of the most important Japanese writers of the XXth Century, which he made in 1965. That film had a very unusual and mysterious history of its own: after Mishimas dramatic death on November 25, 1970 (almost exactly 40 years ago), it was banned and all copies were presumed destroyed, but it has been recently released on DVD after the original negative was miraculously found in a jar of tea.

Each film will be introduced prior to the screening, and there will be Q & A with Edward Frenkel after the screenings.

Free Admission. Free Pass Tickets available in advance at East Bay Media Center - 1939 Addison Street - Downtown Berkeley, CA 94704 (510) 843-3699 and evening of screenings at Landmark Shattuck Cinemas Filmmakers Box Office.
Target audience: All Audiences Open to audience: All Audiences
Event Contact: frenkel@math.berkeley.edu, 510-219-6478
Document (PDF): Press release

Official Website: http://events.berkeley.edu/index.php?event_ID=37175&date=2010-12-01&tab=all_events