'The Overnighters' Shows Dark Side Of North Dakota Oil Boom
(Reuters) - Desperate for a fresh start, unemployed workers from all over the world have converged on North Dakota's burgeoning oil patch, seeking six-figure salaries and the rewards of living in the fastest-growing economy in the nation.
But award-winning documentary "The Overnighters," opening in New York on Friday before expanding nationally, shows the bleak side of that American Dream and the complex efforts of one man to be a Good Samaritan.
"The film does show how much harder it is to survive here than people think," filmmaker Jesse Moss told Reuters.
"The Overnighters" tracks the men, and a handful of women, whose dreams of wealth and redemption from past mistakes collide with unwelcoming residents and limited housing in Williston, the epicentre of the energy boom in North Dakota, where more than 1 million barrels of oil are produced monthly.
Lutheran pastor Jay Reinke offers down-on-their luck emigrants a place to sleep inside his church while they acclimate, labelling the newcomers as "overnighters." About 1,000 took up his offer over a period of about two years.
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http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/10/08/uk-film-theovernighters-idUKKCN0HX1HE20141008