Overnighters
An urgent portrait of compassion under fire.
The Overnighters
In the tiny town of Williston, North Dakota, tens of thousands of unemployed hopefuls show up with dreams of honest work and a big paycheck under the lure of the oil boom. However, busloads of newcomers chasing a broken American Dream step into the stark reality of slim work prospects and nowhere to sleep. The town lacks the infrastructure to house the overflow of migrants, even for those who do find gainful employment.
Over at Concordia Lutheran Church, Pastor Jay Reinke is driven to deliver the migrants some dignity. Night after night, he converts his church into a makeshift dorm and counseling center, opening the church’s doors to allow the “Overnighters” (as he calls them) to stay for a night, a week or longer. They sleep on the floor, in the pews and in their cars in the church parking lot. Many who take shelter with Reinke are living on society’s fringes and with checkered pasts, and their presence starts affecting the dynamics of the small community. The congregants begin slinging criticism and the City Council threatens to shut the controversial Overnighters program down, forcing the pastor to make a decision which leads to profound consequences that he never imagined.
Jesse Moss' award-winning documentary The Overnighters engages and dramatizes a set of universal societal and economic themes: the promise and limits of re-invention, redemption and compassion, as well as the tension between the moral imperative to “love thy neighbor” and the resistance that one small community feels when confronted by a surging river of desperate, job-seeking strangers.
"**** (four stars)...A Masterpiece" San Francisco Chronicle
"**** (four stars)...Astonishing" Boston Globe
"Remarkable" Chicago Tribune
"Profound" Rolling Stone
"Epic" The Village Voice
"Extraordinary" Rogerebert.com
"Gripping" Salon
Over at Concordia Lutheran Church, Pastor Jay Reinke is driven to deliver the migrants some dignity. Night after night, he converts his church into a makeshift dorm and counseling center, opening the church’s doors to allow the “Overnighters” (as he calls them) to stay for a night, a week or longer. They sleep on the floor, in the pews and in their cars in the church parking lot. Many who take shelter with Reinke are living on society’s fringes and with checkered pasts, and their presence starts affecting the dynamics of the small community. The congregants begin slinging criticism and the City Council threatens to shut the controversial Overnighters program down, forcing the pastor to make a decision which leads to profound consequences that he never imagined.
Jesse Moss' award-winning documentary The Overnighters engages and dramatizes a set of universal societal and economic themes: the promise and limits of re-invention, redemption and compassion, as well as the tension between the moral imperative to “love thy neighbor” and the resistance that one small community feels when confronted by a surging river of desperate, job-seeking strangers.
"**** (four stars)...A Masterpiece" San Francisco Chronicle
"**** (four stars)...Astonishing" Boston Globe
"Remarkable" Chicago Tribune
"Profound" Rolling Stone
"Epic" The Village Voice
"Extraordinary" Rogerebert.com
"Gripping" Salon
Genre
Documentary
Web Site
Runtime
102
Language
English
Director
Jesse Moss
Awards:
Nominee, Grand Jury Prize ~ Documentary, Sundance Film Festival
Winner, Special Jury Prize ~ Documentary, Sundance Film Festival
FEATURED REVIEW
Andrew O’Hehir, Salon
If John Steinbeck were writing in the second decade of the 21st century, “The Overnighters” is precisely the story he’d want to tell. It’s the tale of a small-town preacher whose faith leads him to defy his community and his own congregation, set against an oil boom and a devastating nationwide ...
Played at
Lumiere Music Hall 1.06.15 - 1.06.15
Playhouse 7 1.10.15 - 1.11.15
Claremont 5 1.10.15 - 1.11.15
Royal 1.10.15 - 1.11.15
NoHo 7 1.10.15 - 1.11.15
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