Art of writing about deaths captured in documentary

December 22, 2017 By Natasha Soto Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Director Vanessa Gould and producer Caitlin Mae Burke at The River Café. Eagle photo by Natasha Soto

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For many individuals, obituaries may be the only form of written biography left behind after death. However, as writer Margalit Fox says in the 2016 film “Obit,” “Obits have next to nothing to do with death and absolutely everything to do with life.” Director and producer duo Vanessa Gould and Caitlin Mae Burke created “Obit,” a feature-length documentary that explores the work done at The New York Times obituaries department.

Though it might seem difficult to capture the writing process in film, Burke and Gould reveal the inner lives of the obituary writers and the lives of their subjects in vivid color. The film exposes the writing process through shots of writers agonizing over a lede and archival videos of individuals who have lived extraordinary lives, bringing viewers into meetings where the obituary staff of The New York Times decides which life will go on the front page.

While the film brushes up against themes of mortality, the movie is ultimately a celebration of life. What better place to celebrate life than Brooklyn’s River Café, which is where the Brooklyn Eagle caught up with the film maker duo over coffee and avocado toast.

“I decided to make this film after a friend of mine died, and I pitched his obituary to many newspapers. The only one who accepted it was The New York Times, which is when I realized what they were doing culturally”, explained Gould. She says she reached out to Burke for her help on the film after watching “Approaching the Elephant.”

“I just thought, this is brilliant, that’s my girl!” she said.

“I almost feel like I was born to be your producer,” agreed Burke. “In college I wrote a paper about the gender differences on epitaphs on tombstones. Even then I was interested in how people are remembered.”