Robert Jury "Working Man"

 

Working Man, a new film by Robert Jury, follows a factory closure in a small rust-belt town in the Midwest and one man’s attempt to find meaning in his life after he loses a job. When I first got asked to cover the film, I wondered if it would hit too close to home. The world I once knew had entered the uncertain reality of Covid19. Businesses shut down across America, and thirty million people were out of work without knowing when things would return to normal. Breadlines foreshadowed the collapse of American prosperity, harkening back to the days of the Great Depression. 

As I watched the film, I realized that even in darkness, there can be light.  The central character rallies the community in an effort to save the factory and in doing so, he finds a sense of purpose. In making the film, Robert Jury drew upon his experience growing up in a small factory town in the Midwest and recent memory of the 2008 financial crisis. As we started the interview, he told me about his 10-year journey in making Working Man.