Discovering Frankenstein

FAIN: GN-50667-05

Oregon Public Broadcasting (Portland, OR 97219)
David Davis (Project Director: March 2005 to March 2007)

Consultation on a two-hour film examining Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein (1818) and the evolution of the Frankenstein story in popular culture.

Nearly 200 years ago, teenager Mary Shelley wrote what would become one of the most famous works of literature: Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. The chilling story of Victor Frankenstein and the nameless creature he fashioned in his "workshop of filthy creation" inspired numerous plays and films, and continues to captivate the human imagination. Filmmaker Margaret Koval, in partnerhsip with OPB, proposes "Discovering Frankenstein," a two-hour national prime-time PBS documentary that will revisit Shelley's tale, exploring the era of sweeping political and social change in which she wrote. It will reveal the power of literature to express and shape our ideas about politics, science, society - and our own humanity.