Conor Oberst makes his film debut with Phoebe Bridgers as a voice actor

Conor Oberst, best known as the frontman of Bright Eyes, is venturing into new creative territory with his short film Invention 13. The film will have its world premiere on September 26 at Beyond Fest, a film festival in Los Angeles. The story follows a pianist who tries to master Bach's notoriously complex 'Invention 13' but runs into strange obstacles along the way. On Instagram, Oberst summed up the theme simply: "Music is an exorcism. Sometimes it won't come out."

Oberst directed the film alongside fellow musician Shawn Foree. The lead roles are played by actors Emory Cohen and Olivia Howard, with professional skateboarder Nelly Morville also appearing in the film. Phoebe Bridgers contributes a voiceover but does not appear on screen. The score was written by Nathaniel Walcott, whom Oberst also knows as a bandmate in Bright Eyes.

The creative relationship between Oberst and Bridgers runs deep. The two joined forces as Better Oblivion Community Center, a supergroup whose self titled debut album came out in 2019 on the label Dead Oceans. That collaboration grew organically out of the recording sessions for Bridgers' song 'Would You Rather'. What started as a shared single eventually blossomed into a full album. Bridgers told NME at the time how the plans kept expanding: "We wrote a song together and it was fun. It doesn't immediately fit into one of our styles." Oberst added: "Then it just ended up being a full record."

Since that debut album, Better Oblivion Community Center has not released any new music, though Oberst and Bridgers did reunite on stage in 2024 during one of Oberst's shows in Los Angeles, where they performed three songs including their collaborative track 'My City'. Oberst was also credited on Bridgers' most recent solo album 'Lost Weekend'. With that, Invention 13 is the latest chapter in an artistic friendship that has been bearing fruit for years.