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3.8

828 Ratings

Living in Oblivion

Directed by Tom DiCillo

United States, 1995

Comedy

90

Synopsis

The story follows a single disaster-filled day in the life of a director as he desperately tries to fulfill his vision and shoot his movie despite whining actors, bumbling crew members, exploding lights and malfunctioning fog machines.

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Living in Oblivion Directed by Tom DiCillo

Awards & Festivals

Sundance Film Festival

1995 | 2 wins including: Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award

Independent Spirit Awards

1996 | 3 nominations including: Best Feature

Stockholm International Film Festival

1995 | Winner: FIPRESCI Prize

Valladolid International Film Festival

1995 | Winner: Best New Director

Cast & Crew

Critics reviews

A low-budget film about low-budget filmmaking, Living in Oblivion captures an intense and potentially demoralizing wrinkle of communal creation, whether the endeavor in question is filmmaking, writing, dance, or painting—that nothing’s a given… Director Tom DiCillo ingeniously structures the film as a trio of overlapping shorts that cumulatively suggest ripples emanating from a stone tossed in a pond.

Chuck Bowen

November 24, 2015

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DiCillo’s ode to filmmaking plays like Fellini’s 8 1/2 re-imagined as a 90s music video… Peter Dinklage (making his film debut) steals the show as a disgruntled actor tired of the clichéd use of dwarves in dream sequences.

A.J. Serrano

November 11, 2015

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What are people saying?

James Mackin's rating of the film Living in Oblivion
James Mackin

Maybe the funniest film about making films I've ever seen. Peter DInklage has the best possible film debut.
December 14, 2017 05:02
- 1
- 0
Max Swanson's rating of the film Living in Oblivion
Max Swanson

One of the most painfully real films ever made about filmmaking.
October 19, 2016 19:39
- 2
- 0
emichan's rating of the film Living in Oblivion
emichan

An indie movie about indie filmmaking
June 07, 2014 16:41
- 1
- 0
jeffreyreeser's rating of the film Living in Oblivion
jeffreyreeser

LITERALLY THE BEST thing ive ever seen. 95/100
December 23, 2013 08:06
- 4
- 0
Lucas Lacámara's rating of the film Living in Oblivion
Lucas Lacámara

The best depiction of the principle photography process that I've ever seen from a film.
November 26, 2009 07:47
- 1
- 0
Eric Rucker's rating of the film Living in Oblivion
Eric Rucker

I laughed a lot. At times I had to pause it, it was too delicious. Enough meta- fun that it was a good chew toy for my brain that gets put to sleep by most Hollywood pap. Would be a fun double feature with Scorcese’s After Hours.
February 21, 2018 19:25
- 0
- 0
smndvdcl's rating of the film Living in Oblivion
smndvdcl

Films about filmmaking rarely work unless one is deeply embedded within the industry, but 'Living in Oblivion' tackles the challenge with finesse.
March 17, 2017 15:08
- 0
- 1
Hunter Duesing's rating of the film Living in Oblivion
Hunter Duesing

A great reality-bending film about the nightmares and anxieties of film production. Sometimes it feels like Tom DiCillo is venting via this movie, but that seems to be part of the joke.
November 24, 2009 05:35
- 0
- 0

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