Conceiving Ada

Running time: N/A

Is memory dormant storage, or can it be retreived and altered? Computer genius, Emmy, is determined to find out. Her obsession with Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace (1815-1852), has driven her to explore the outer reaches of cyberspace, but her desperate attempts to communicate technologically with Ada threaten to destroy both her and her unborn child. Using her own genetic code to collapse time and link her world with Ada's, Emmy must access and store Ada's knowledge before it is too late. Ada, daughter of Lord Byron, is now widely recognized as the first computer programmer. Before her death at age 36, she wrote what is regarded as the premiere text on the "Analytical Engine," considered the first programmable computer. To tell Adas story, video-artist-turned-writer-director, Lynn Hershmann Leeson, designed an innovative technical process that allowed still photographic images to be placed onto live video. Prior to the shoot, these images were digitized, altered, colorized, and maneuvered through several computers. They were then laid onto digital videotape while the scenes were shot. Casting the inimitable Tilda Swinton (Orlando) as Ada and the late Timothy Leary as Emmy's adviser makes this smart and groundbreaking cyber thriller a unique cinematic experience. --Meredith H. Sherter