While we’re sure more documentaries will secure fall release dates in the coming weeks and months, there was only one that earned a spot in our most-anticipated fall preview. The Overnighters, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, has been one of the most acclaimed in the genre during its festival run and now will be arriving in October.
Drafthouse Films have released the first trailer for the film, which is directed by Jesse Moss and captures his 18-month journey filming men who have traveled to Williston, North Dakota to earn money in the oil boom. Our friend Jordan Smith recently named it the best documentary of the year thus far, saying it’s “an astounding bit of non-fiction filmmaking that, among many other things, takes an unflinching look at American desperation and the faltering systems set up to help people get back on their feet in times of need.” Check out the trailer and poster below.
A modern-day Grapes of Wrath, award-winning documentary The Overnighters is an intimate portrait of job-seekers desperately chasing the broken American Dream to the tiny oil boom town of Williston, North Dakota. With the town lacking the infrastructure to house the overflow of migrants, a local pastor starts the controversial “overnighters” program, allowing down-and-out workers a place to sleep at the church. His well-meaning project immediately runs into resistance with his community, forcing the clergyman to make a decision which leads to profound consequences that he never imagined.
The Overnighters opens on October 10th.