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Film on factory is first Netflix project endorsed by Obamas
Of course this is being derided as a hit piece by the Obamas against republicans and Trump in particular, but really it's their own fault for embracing rampant corporate globalism against American workers and organized labor.
Film on factory is first Netflix project endorsed by Obamas
NEW YORK (AP) — A documentary about an Ohio auto glass factory that is run by a Chinese investor debuted Wednesday on Netflix as the streaming service’s first project backed by Michelle and Barack Obama’s new production company.
Filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert said they learned of the Obamas’ interest after “American Factory” was shown at the Sundance film festival and they were pitching the film to Netflix. They were told the Obamas had screened it days earlier.
They’re ecstatic about the support, and in an interview Wednesday were quick to dissuade anyone from the idea that the film is delivering a message either for or against any politician.
“They got what we were trying to do, which is to tell a story that sort of transcends the year-to-year politics,” Bognar said.
Bognar and Julia Reichert, who live in the Dayton, Ohio, area where Fuyao Glass replaced an abandoned General Motors plant, said they were initially interested in exploring a culture clash, but the film deepened into a story about the rights of workers, globalization and automation.
The Fuyao plant, bought by Chinese industrialist Cao Dewang, employs some 2,200 American and 200 Chinese workers. The film gives a close-up look at how the cultures adjust to one another. At one point, a Chinese worker explains that Americans are slow because they have fat fingers. Many Chinese at the plant consider the Americans lazy. The Americans at the plant question what they see as Chinese workers unquestioned devotion to a company that robs them of time to enjoy life.
At the factory’s opening ceremony, Dave Burrows, the vice president of the American factory, privately curses out Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown for suggesting that the Chinese owner be open to running a union shop. Two years later, after he’s been fired, Burrows drives by the factory and bitterly notes that you can’t spell Fuyao without an “f″ and “u.”
Tensions rise when the factory doesn’t initially meet production goals, culminating in a bitter fight over the right to unionize.
In one of the last scenes, an employee gives Cao a tour of the factory floor and boasts about how automation provides Fuyao with the opportunity to fire workers.
Continued here:
https://www.apnews.com/d9406cea24c54603b3d12e57ce897d03
NEW YORK (AP) — A documentary about an Ohio auto glass factory that is run by a Chinese investor debuted Wednesday on Netflix as the streaming service’s first project backed by Michelle and Barack Obama’s new production company.
Filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert said they learned of the Obamas’ interest after “American Factory” was shown at the Sundance film festival and they were pitching the film to Netflix. They were told the Obamas had screened it days earlier.
They’re ecstatic about the support, and in an interview Wednesday were quick to dissuade anyone from the idea that the film is delivering a message either for or against any politician.
“They got what we were trying to do, which is to tell a story that sort of transcends the year-to-year politics,” Bognar said.
Bognar and Julia Reichert, who live in the Dayton, Ohio, area where Fuyao Glass replaced an abandoned General Motors plant, said they were initially interested in exploring a culture clash, but the film deepened into a story about the rights of workers, globalization and automation.
The Fuyao plant, bought by Chinese industrialist Cao Dewang, employs some 2,200 American and 200 Chinese workers. The film gives a close-up look at how the cultures adjust to one another. At one point, a Chinese worker explains that Americans are slow because they have fat fingers. Many Chinese at the plant consider the Americans lazy. The Americans at the plant question what they see as Chinese workers unquestioned devotion to a company that robs them of time to enjoy life.
At the factory’s opening ceremony, Dave Burrows, the vice president of the American factory, privately curses out Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown for suggesting that the Chinese owner be open to running a union shop. Two years later, after he’s been fired, Burrows drives by the factory and bitterly notes that you can’t spell Fuyao without an “f″ and “u.”
Tensions rise when the factory doesn’t initially meet production goals, culminating in a bitter fight over the right to unionize.
In one of the last scenes, an employee gives Cao a tour of the factory floor and boasts about how automation provides Fuyao with the opportunity to fire workers.
Continued here:
https://www.apnews.com/d9406cea24c54603b3d12e57ce897d03