Life Smartphone (????)

Whose obituary would you read first: the leader of the Soviet Union, or the inventor of the Slinky? Questions like this are part of the daily routine for the writers and editors of “The New York Times” Obituaries section, lovingly spotlighted in “Obit.” This deceptively lighthearted documentary takes us to the front lines of the world’s most lauded obituary section and explains, among other fascinating curiosities, how a word count is assigned to a human life, what happens when a public figure dies unexpectedly on a weekend, and which living celebrities have pre-written obituaries on file at the newspaper of record. Whether they’re writing about the bassist in Bill Haley’s Comets, JFK’s campaign advisor, or an infamous exotic dancer with bizarre connections, the Times’ obituarists are revealed as archaeologists of the people who shaped our world.

Whose obituary would you read first: the leader of the Soviet Union, or the inventor of the Slinky? Questions like this are part of the daily routine for the writers and editors of “The New York Times” Obituaries section, lovingly spotlighted in “Obit.” This deceptively lighthearted documentary takes us to the front lines of the world’s most lauded obituary section and explains, among other fascinating curiosities, how a word count is assigned to a human life, what happens when a public figure dies unexpectedly on a weekend, and which living celebrities have pre-written obituaries on file at the newspaper of record. Whether they’re writing about the bassist in Bill Haley’s Comets, JFK’s campaign advisor, or an infamous exotic dancer with bizarre connections, the Times’ obituarists are revealed as archaeologists of the people who shaped our world.

Whose obituary would you read first: the leader of the Soviet Union, or the inventor of the Slinky? Questions like this are part of the daily routine for the writers and editors of “The New York Times” Obituaries section, lovingly spotlighted in “Obit.” This deceptively lighthearted documentary takes us to the front lines of the world’s most lauded obituary section and explains, among other fascinating curiosities, how a word count is assigned to a human life, what happens when a public figure dies unexpectedly on a weekend, and which living celebrities have pre-written obituaries on file at the newspaper of record. Whether they’re writing about the bassist in Bill Haley’s Comets, JFK’s campaign advisor, or an infamous exotic dancer with bizarre connections, the Times’ obituarists are revealed as archaeologists of the people who shaped our world.

Tie your sheets together, climb out into the night, and join us for a wild assortment of midnight shorts, with something for every late-night fan. Straight-up comedy, horror twists, clever critiques of phone ob-session, and misogyny—each minute is different from the last. Nick DenBoer (frequent animator for Conan O’Brien) delivers a mashup of “The Shining,” and a German operatic flash-mob becomes...look, you just have to see it. This program will even answer the age-old question: Who would win in a fight be-tween Roddy Piper and Cthulhu?