Solitary Plains

Thousands of people, mostly men, head for the barren plains of North Dakota to find much-needed jobs in the heavy industries supporting the oil boom. Twelve-year-old James doesn't go to school, and while his father slaves from morning till night he wanders aimlessly in the vicinity of their rundown RV. The light from the blazing fires of metalwork construction never go out, and only the occasional passing of an impossibly long freight train interrupts the torpid atmosphere of limbo. The days drift by, and James gradually resigns himself to a bleak future amid massive oil refineries. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)