THE JOCKER

Based on historical fact, The Jocker explores relationships between men riding the rails during the great depression. It is 1931. In a hobo jungle near Flagstaff, Arizona, hobos and tramps begin to congregate, lured by the promise of work on a nearby rail spur. Early arrivals include Biloxi Billy, a tramp in his late 40's, and Nat, around 16 -- a Jocker and his 'Gunsel,' (combination servant, apprentice and catamite, a common and amazingly well documented relationship among hobos and tramps of the period.) They soon encounter 'Bama Boy and Shakespeare, two men in a very different sort of sexual relationship. It's the men's conflicting and ever-changing dependence on one another that help them survive – but when Nat makes a desperate move to get away from his abusive jocker, he sets in motion a devastating chain of events that leaves two dead and other lives shattered. Nat may ultimately get what he wished -- but not at all in the way he could of imagined.