The documentary BOMBSHELL: THE HEDY LAMARR STORY will make its theatrical premiere on November 24 at the IFC Center in New York. Directed by Alexandra Dean and executive produced by Susan Sarandon, the film highlights the groundbreaking technical achievements of the Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr, best known for her role in ECSTASY (1933)–the first woman to portray a character having an orgasm on screen.

In 1942, the same year that she was in three films, Lamarr patented a “secret communication system.” Practically ignored at the time, her invention has since become the basis for technologies which rely on wireless, direct communication such as GPS and WIFI.

BOMBSHELL is narrated by Diane Kruger (TROY), who reads Lamarr’s letters. The film includes a newly discovered interview Lamarr did at the end of her life in which she speaks about her inventions. Her “secret communication system,” now referred to as spread spectrum technology, is the most revolutionary of Lamarr’s inventions–but the film makes clear that she was an ingenious problem-solver who was always working.

The documentary received support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. Zeitgeist Films and Kino Lorber will distribute BOMBSHELL nationwide after premiering it in New York. In 2018, the film will make its television premiere on American Masters.