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August 12, 2009 Wright State filmmakers premiere HBO documentary The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant for Dayton auto workers 
Wright State University's award-winning documentary filmmakers Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar will join former GM assembly line workers for the Dayton premiere of their HBO documentary, The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant at the Schuster Center, August 19.
The free public premiere will be a tribute to the spirit of the autoworkers, many of whom have not seen each other since the plant closed. The workers and filmmakers will gather with the actual final truck to hit production, a white GMC Envoy. Reichert, a professor in Wright State's Department of Theatre Arts/Motion Pictures, and Bognar, a 1986 graduate of the university's motion pictures program, recently completed editing the 40-minute documentary, which focuses on the workers of the General Motors Assembly Plant in Moraine, Ohio, from the announcement a year ago that the plant will be closing, to its last day. The plant opened in 1981 and churned out an average of 280,000 small trucks and SUVs a year. "Many see the demise of this major industry as an indication of the changing American manufacturing landscape, which seems to be dying as products are increasingly being made elsewhere," said Reichert. "The film offers a snapshot of a moment in America where we may be seeing the end of the blue-collar middle class. "While the workers were shocked to be losing their jobs, we quickly saw they are also losing much more—meaningful work, the camaraderie they shared on a daily basis, and the strong sense of family that existed in the plant," Reichert said. "Steve and I are proud that HBO decided on Dayton for the premiere. It will be a meaningful event for the region." Like other Reichert/Bognar productions, the making of The Last Truck involved numerous students, alumni and faculty from Wright State's filmmaking community. Working as camera operators, grip/electrics, and post-production assistants were Ben Garchar, Amy Cunningham, David Ackels, Ian Cook, Chance Madison, Doug Schwartz, Joe Lurie, Ann Rotolante, Chris "biZo" Stevens, Matt Harris, Nik Siefke, Erick Stoll and Matt Zaff. WSU film professor Russ Johnson worked as a camera person, while Jim Klein, also a professor of film in Wright State's motion pictures department, was both the fine-cut editor on the film and contributor of piano score to the film's soundtrack. "The support we received from the Wright State film department helped us hugely, on so many levels," said Bognar. "The demanding shoot called out to the Wright State film community for help, and the WSU students and alumni answered that call, braving day after day of freezing cold to shoot the film and bear witness to this major local event. It was an opportunity for the WSU community to see firsthand the impact the economy has on the lives of real people." This is not the first time Reichert and Bognar have focused their collective vision on change and heartbreak--and resiliency in the face of it. A Lion in the House is their feature documentary spanning six years in the lives of five American families who each have a child fighting cancer. Eight years in the making, the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Merit in Non-fiction Filmmaking, was nominated for Best Documentary in the 2007 Independent Spirit Award--considered the Oscars of the independent film world—and was cited as one of the top ten films of the year on several prominent surveys. Dubbed a godmother of American independent film by Filmmaker Magazine, Reichert is a two-time Academy Award nominee for Best Feature Documentary for Seeing Red and Union Maids. These films and two others, Growing Up Female and Methadone--An American Way of Dealing, all screened nationally in the U.S. on PBS. Bognar's first film, the feature documentary Personal Belongings, as well as three subsequent ones, each premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Personal Belongings went on to screen in 27 other festivals including IDFA, San Francisco, Gen Art and Atlanta, where it won the audience award. The Dream Catcher, produced with Reichert, has screened in over 20 international film festivals, won numerous awards and is seen on the Sundance Channel. "We're honored to have The Last Truck chosen by HBO for its summer film series," said Bognar. "With unemployment on the rise and auto workers hit hard, viewers everywhere will be able to relate to the insider story of GM's assembly line workers." Doors open at 5:45 p.m., August 19, for the Dayton premiere of The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant at the Schuster Center. Tickets for the screening, that begins at 6:30 p.m., are free, but reservations are required and seating will be limited. For reservations, former GM workers should call 1-866-518-4081 and the general public should call 1-866-717-6072. HBO's Documentary Films Summer Series '09 will feature a provocative new film every Monday night at 9 p.m. The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant, scheduled for Monday, September 7, will be the last in the series. It will air, appropriately, on Labor Day. # # # Editor's note: A high-resolution photo of Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert can be downloaded at http://www.wright.edu/news_events/news/The%20Last%20Truck_lg.jpg Cutline: Wright State filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert with former GM workers featured in the documentary The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant. From left to right: Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert, Paul "Popeye" Hurst, Louis Carter, Kim Clay, Joyce Gilbert and Kate Geiger.  Click on the photo above to see a high-resolution version suitable for printing.
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