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Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Film premiere a reunion for GM workers
A documentary about the Dec. 23, 2008, closing of the General Motors assembly plant in Moraine debuted for a full house at the Schuster Performing Arts Center Wednesday, Aug. 19.
The premiere of “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” was equal parts reunion and expression of pride for the 1,600 former autoworkers and their family members among the 2,200 attending.
Produced by Home Box Office, it was a milestone for Yellow Springs directors Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, who made it after spending hundreds of hours with the Moraine workers in the plant’s final weeks, days and hours. The partnership with HBO marked a departure for the previously all-independent duo.
The final vehicle to roll off the Moraine line, a white GMC Envoy that figures prominently in the 40-minute piece, was parked outside the theater.
The screening was co-sponsored by FilmDayton and Wright State University, where Reichert is a motion pictures professor. Bognar is a WSU film graduate.
“This is the second time we’ve been to Dayton in four months for an opening,” HBO director of corporate affairs Loraine Anderson said. The first was for the film “They Killed Sister Dorothy.”
“We’ve done large premieres before, but one thing is very different this time. Generally, attendance will show about a 35 percent dropoff from the number of reservations. This time, the dropoff is about 0 percent.”
Local resident J. Todd Anderson, the storyboard artist for Hollywood’s famed directing duo the Coen brothers, said “The Last Truck” records a sad moment in history. “The only thing invented here that’s still supporting the local economy is now the airplane, in the form of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base,” he said.
William Berry, a retiree who worked at the Moraine plant more than 35 years, attended with his wife, two adult sons and their families. “I made a good life here, but they took my sons’ livelihood away,” he said.
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GM film premiere sold out
“The Last Truck: Closing of a General Motors Plant” is sold out for the screening tonight, Aug. 19, at the Schuster Performing Arts Center. The showing will be in the 2,300-seat Mead Theatre.
Although admission is free, reservations were required to see the premiere of the HBO presentation of the documentary by Yellow Springs filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert about workers at the former Moraine truck assembly plant. Former workers at the GM facility were given first choice before seats were opened to the general public.
Check in for reservations will begin at 5:30 p.m. The screening will begin at 6:30. The Victoria Theatre Association has announced that Main Street will be closed between First and Second streets. The Arts Garage at Ludlow and Second streets will be open for paid parking.
Former workers who can’t see the film are still invited to be part of a group photo that will be taken in the Wintergarden of the Schuster Center at Second and Main streets at about 8 p.m.
The film will be broadcast on HBO starting on Labor Day, Sept. 7. A DVD version will be available later.
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