After taking The Act of Killing to the bank, Drafthouse’s Tim League smells another docu winner. A full two months after its premiere in Park City (it has subsequently been shown at True/False, Full Frame, Dallas and upcoming fests Hot Docs and Tribeca) TheWrap reports that Jesse Moss’ The Overnighters has been picked up and is being pegged with an awards-friendly year-end 2014 release. A portion of all box office receipts will be donated to local affordable housing charities.
Gist: Desperate, broken men chase their dreams and run from their demons in the North Dakota oil fields. A local Pastor risks everything to help them.
Worth Noting: This won a Special Jury Award for Intuitive Filmmaking at Sundance.
Do We Care?: Topping the almost 20 doc items that our docu-specialist Jordan M. Smith caught at Sundance, The Overnighters will likely be included among several year-end lists. Jordan mentions that Moss once again spins “an ethically complex yarn, broad in its thematic ambitions, yet auspiciously concise in its narrative scope.”
