Obselidia

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Obselidia
Official promotional poster
Directed byDiane Bell
Written byDiane Bell
Produced by
  • Matthew Medlin
  • Chris Byrne
  • Ken Morris
Starring
  • Michael Piccirilli
  • Gaynor Howe
  • Frank Hoyt Taylor
CinematographyZak Mulligan
Edited byJohn-Michael Powell
Music byLiam Howe
Production
companies
  • Humble Films
  • Red Czar Films
Release date
  • January 22, 2010 (2010-01-22) (Sundance)
Running time
96 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$140,000[2]

Obselidia is a 2010 American road drama film written and directed by Diane Bell in her directorial debut. It stars Michael Piccirilli, Gaynor Howe, and Frank Hoyt Taylor. It tells the story of a lonely librarian who believes love is obsolete until a road trip to Death Valley with a beguiling cinema projectionist teaches him otherwise.

The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2010, where it was awarded the Alfred P. Sloan Prize and the Excellence in Cinematography Award. It was then self-distributed,[2] and received positive reviews from critics. At the 26th Independent Spirit Awards, it was nominated for Best First Screenplay (for Bell) and the John Cassavetes Award.

Plot

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On his quest to catalogue soon obsolete occupations, George (Piccirilli) a librarian joins forces with a silent film projectionist (Howe), and together they journey to Death Valley to interview a maverick scientist (Hoyt Taylor) who is predicting the imminent end of the world.

Cast

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  • Michael Piccirilli as George
  • Gaynor Howe as Sophie
  • Frank Hoyt Taylor as Lewis
  • Chris Byrne as Mitch
  • Kim Beuché as Jennifer
  • Michael Blackman Beck as Paul
  • Linda Walton as Linda
  • Grant Mathis as Monk

Production

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Obselidia was loosely inspired by several films, with Diane Bell saying:

This movie is born from a deep love of movies, so there are literally thousands of inspirations. A few of the key touchstones: for the look of the film, Wim Wenders' Paris, Texas and François Truffaut's The Man Who Loved Women; for driving scenes on a low budget, the great B-movie, Gun Crazy; for cycling, Jules et Jim; for romance, Woody Allen's Annie Hall and Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise. For a go and do it attitude, John Carney's Once and Luc Moullet's Brigitte et Brigitte.[3]

Principal photography took place in Death Valley Junction, Ballarat, Los Angeles, and Santa Monica, California.

Reception

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Critical response

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Todd McCarthy of Variety stated, "Gentle, intelligent, gorgeously made and utterly eccentric, Obselidia exists in its own little world entirely apart from any hitherto detected categories of American independent filmmaking." McCarthy also wrote, "Visually, the picture is a thing of great beauty."[4] David D'Arcy of Screen Daily remarked, "Bell's ambitious script seeks a new and charmingly humorous perspective on consumerism and environmental decline, but leans on didactic aphorisms in the dialogue between George and Sophie."[5]

Accolades

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Year Award / Festival Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
2010 Sundance Film Festival Alfred P. Sloan Prize Obselidia Won [6][7][8]
Excellence in Cinematography Award: Dramatic Zak Mulligan Won [9]
Ashland Independent Film Festival Best Feature Diane Bell Won
2011 FEST Youth Video and Film Festival Best Fiction Won
Independent Spirit Awards Best First Screenplay Nominated [10]
John Cassavetes Award Diane Bell, Chris Byrne, Matthew Medlin Nominated

References

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Further reading

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  • Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  • Obselidia at IMDbLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
  • Obselidia at Rotten TomatoesLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
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