“It’s counter-intuitive — ironic, even — but obits have next to nothing to do with death, and in fact absolutely everything to do with the life,” an obituary writer observes in a new trailer for “Obit.” Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Vanessa Gould’s upcoming documentary centers on The New York Times obituary desk.
“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 1,000 words,” the film’s official synopsis reads. “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.”
Gould was inspired to make “Obit.” after a personal experience with the obit team at the NYT. After one of the subjects of her origami doc “Between the Folds” passed away, she wrote to most of the prominent English-language newspapers around the world to inform them of his death. The NYT was the only newspaper that responded to her, and they ran an obit.
“[Eric Joisel’s obit] recognized the unique value of the things to which he was so devoted. It logged him into the historical record. Recognition had largely eluded him, and I can’t even begin to think how he’d feel if he had seen it,” Gould told us. “This led me to a deep point of curiosity about the cultural, historical, and journalistic gravity of obituaries. As I began a new daily ritual of reading The New York Times obits, I soon discovered that nearly every one points to an incredible human story, along with larger contexts of place and time, history, and culture.”
As one obit writer says in the trailer, they have “the chance to make the dead live again.”
Gould’s “Between the Folds” aired on PBS’ “Independent Lens” and received a 2010 Peabody Award.
“Obit.” made its world premiere at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. The doc opens April 26 in New York before expanding to cities across the U.S.
