OBIT. Life on Deadline

July 28, 29, 30, August 4, 5, 11, 12, 13     Single Tickets $5     Summer Passes $30     Where Are Films Shown?     Where Can I Park?    

It’s a shame no one wants to talk to them at parties, because obituary writers are a surprisingly funny bunch. Ten hours before newspapers hit neighborhood doorsteps—and these days, ten minutes before news hits the web—an obit writer is racing against deadline to sum up a long and newsworthy life in under 1000 words. The details of these lives are then deposited into the cultural memory amid the daily beat of war, politics, and football scores. Obit is the first documentary to explore the world of these writers and their subjects, focusing on the legendary team at The New York Times, who approach their daily work with journalistic rigor and narrative flair. Going beyond the byline and into the minds of those chronicling life after death on the freshly inked front lines of history, the film invites some of the most essential questions we ask ourselves about life, memory, and the inevitable passage of time. What do we choose to remember? What never dies?

USA / 93 min / WATCH THE TRAILER

This obituary was published in the NY Times on July 19th

Screenings of OBIT are presented in part by The New York Times

You might think a documentary about the obituary writers at the New York Times would be a depressing, sobering, scholarly work — but it’s anything but.

Vanessa Gould’s “Obit” is a life-affirming, slyly amusing, affectionate tribute to the skilled reporters at the New York Times who spend their days gathering information and writing the first-draft mini-histories of the most interesting players on the world stage, from superstar celebrities to historical supporting players to anonymous figures who impacted our lives without us ever knowing their names — until they died. –Chicago Tribune

Fri and Sat, August 4 and 5
Obit 7pm @ IU Fine Arts Upstairs
Buena Vista Social Club: Adios 7:30 @ IU Fine Arts Downstairs
Pop Aye 8:45 @ IU Fine Arts Upstairs – Last Chance!
Sun, August 6
Obit 5:30 @ Bear’s Place
Buena Vista Social Club: Adios 7:45 @ Bear’s Place

Fri and Sat, August 11 and 12
Obit 7pm @ IU Fine Arts Upstairs
Buena Vista Social Club: Adios 7:30 @ IU Fine Arts Downstairs
Glory 8:45 @ IU Fine Arts Upstairs

Sun, August 13
Buena Vista Social Club: Adios 5:30 @ Bear’s Place – Last Chance!
Obit 7:45 @ Bear’s Place – Last Chance!