The Overnighters

Synopsis

USA, 2014, Colour, 100 min

When the small North Dakota town of Williston turns into a boom town due to fracking, unearthing vast pools of oil, hordes of unemployed men, some with questionable backgrounds, descend on the unprepared, overcrowded and anxious town in search of work. Only the fiercely compassionate Lutheran pastor Jay Reinke opens his doors to these men, offering them shelter and counsel at his community church. His dogged, one-man mission of mercy sets off a firestorm in Williston, with devastating repercussions for him, his family and his future. Jesse Moss’ electrifying documentary follows the twists and turns of Reinke’s crusade, arriving at a destination neither the filmmaker, nor Reinke, could have foreseen.

Director Biography

Jesse Moss is an award winning documentary filmmaker and cinematographer. He produced, directed and photographed The Overnighters, a feature documentary set in the North Dakota oilfields. The film premiered in the US Documentary Competition at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where it was awarded the Special Jury Prize for Intuitive Filmmaking. It will be released theatrically by Drafthouse Films in Fall 2014.