This screening of The Man Who Knew Infinity is proudly presented by the ANU Mathematical Sciences Institute

This film is about a genius mathematician, Srinivasa Ramanujan (Patel), not prominently known in the West. I have a mathematics degree and his name was never even mentioned once during my studies.

Ramanujan overcomes many rejections to get recognised for his amateur work, before succeeding with an invite from Professor Hardy (Irons) at Cambridge University. He leaves behind his young wife and mother, with the promise of constant contact and a quick reunion with the former. Once in England, he has support only from a few other academics, and animosity from most. Hardy, however, compares his mind to other great Trinity College alumni like Isaac Newton, and expects similar things of him.

Ramanujan struggles with grace against the barriers of prejudice against him for having no formal training, as well as his race. He also needs to overcome the college dining hall fare that is not conducive to his vegetarian diet, and it gets worse with rations when war breaks out. Communication from his wife in India dries up too. All Hardy, his closest ally, really cares about is maths, books and having Ramanujan provide proofs to his brilliant new work.

This film proves that the common language of geometry, algebra and arithmetic can overcome differences by uniting the globe with figures, theories and equations. Look no further than this English language film about an Indian mathematician for proof, showing both the good and bad elements of an early 20th century commonwealth.