General Motors’ assembly plant in Dayton, Ohio, produced a new SUV every 58 seconds and won awards for quality and efficiency. But on December 23, 2008, GM closed the plant down, leaving 2,500 stunned and saddened workers. The Last Truck was filmed during the plant’s final weeks, while workers swapped stories and memories as they prepared to drive out of the employee lot for the last time. Interviewed on bar stools, in the front seats of cars, and inside the factory itself, they describe an American business that ultimately was not about cars but the proud men and women who made them. These are people who can remember the exact date of their first day on the job and for whom shutting down the plant is like losing a loved one. For acclaimed filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, who live near the plant, economics is unmistakably personal and local. In chronicling the last truck as it rolls down the line, they have preserved an important moment in the history of their community and the story of American industry.  RYS

Courtesy of HBO 

Filmmaker Q&A following Thursday screening