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Obit.

Play trailer 1:34 Poster for Obit. 2017 1h 35m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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93% Tomatometer 57 Reviews 76% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
At The New York Times, a particular team of writers is entrusted with reflecting upon the luminaries, icons, and world leaders of our day. Here, we are introduced to those responsible for crafting these unequaled obituaries. As we are taken through their painstaking process, we learn about the pressures accompanying a career spent shaping the story of a life.
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Obit.

Obit.

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Critics Consensus

Obit shines an entertaining -- and overdue -- spotlight on an engaging group of people whose singular craft is too often taken for granted.

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Critics Reviews

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Tom Long Detroit News 06/23/2017
B+
"Obit" manages to be both about a specific type of journalism and the larger world it reflects while dropping in all manner of colorful lives and circumstances. Go to Full Review
Matthew Lickona San Diego Reader 05/18/2017
3/5
The real subject here is storytelling, the creation of a stylish, authoritative, highly personal record of "how the world got to be the way it is." One more thing to miss about newspapers when they go. Go to Full Review
Ty Burr Boston Globe 05/18/2017
3.5/4
As someone who takes great pleasure in both reading and writing valedictions to the recently deceased, I can personally attest that the movie's dead on. Go to Full Review
Jason Adams The Film Experience 07/06/2021
Weaves well sourced magic out of the making of their post-mortems Go to Full Review
Richard Crouse Richard Crouse 02/28/2021
3.5/5
It celebrates those no longer with us as much as it does the journalists who write the stories. Go to Full Review
Leigh Monson Substream Magazine 09/24/2020
4/5
I found the poetry and intellectual curiosity of Gould's subjects to be entirely enthralling, and Obit is as entertaining as it is informative. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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David H @DavidQHarris 11/02/2024 Interesting film. In a more perfect world, where I wouldn't have to prioritize the various activities I engage in so much, I'd have been happy to watch it all. But I watched the first half hour of if and enjoyed it very much. See more 10/13/2020 This is an excellent doc. It focuses on the art and craft of obit writing, which should grab the interest of anyone who admires those as they are written in The NY Times and periodicals such as The Economist. It periodically presents some of these obits, and while taking in the details of the lives of those who died, it provokes a lot of self-reflection, as good obits tends to do. See more 02/06/2018 My kind of documentary -- thoughtful about a lot of different things, mostly from oblique angles. Interesting people, and a subject that I really hadn't given enough thought to before seeing this. Really enjoyable to watch. See more 11/10/2017 Fascinating and thought provoking. See more 11/09/2017 "Everyone is going to die." said a obit writer for the NYTimes. This entertaining documentary reports about the obit writers and the research that goes into the writing. Some obits are there just waiting for the "end" and last details. The selection of who becomes an important obit in the NYT is fascinating. The documentary follows the shaping of the obit of the man who primed JFK for the first tv debate in 1960. It was felt that his maneuvering helped JFK look so good on tv and, as JFK felt, won him the 1960 election. Fascinating movie. See more 09/28/2017 Surprisingly funny and touching film - the wriers are increcibly smart and clearly dedicated to the job. We should all be so lucky as to have our obits written up by this crew! See more Read all reviews
Obit.

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Movie Info

Synopsis At The New York Times, a particular team of writers is entrusted with reflecting upon the luminaries, icons, and world leaders of our day. Here, we are introduced to those responsible for crafting these unequaled obituaries. As we are taken through their painstaking process, we learn about the pressures accompanying a career spent shaping the story of a life.
Director
Vanessa Gould
Producer
Caitlin Mae Burke, Vanessa Gould
Distributor
Kino Lorber
Production Co
Mystic Artists Films Productions, Green Fuse Films, Imperfect Films, Topiary Productions
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 26, 2017, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 25, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$313.3K
Runtime
1h 35m
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