DN:FILM American Factory
Steve Bognar and Julia Reichert’s AMERICAN FACTORY, the first of seven planned Netflix film projects to be released in partnership with Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground Productions, delivers on the Obamas' promise to provide the streaming service with programming that reflects the former first couple's values.
The Obamas’ post-presidency decision to stay largely away from contentious political discourse is reflected here, as American Factory—which documents an Ohio factory’s transition from a 2008-shuttered GM facility to its 2014 reimagining by Chinese a billionaire to house an auto-glass-making factory—goes to great lengths to avoid wagging its finger; still, it has a lot to say about the modern workplace. The Chinese reboot rehires many former workers, but at drastically reduced wages: $14 compared to $29. The new start also brings high expectations from the new owners for how the plant will operate and how much glass can be fired, stacked and shipped to car manufacturers. Unsurprisingly, breakage ensues.
Factory workers organize around joining a union.The chairman of the Chinese concerns proclaims he’ll pull out. Americans—accustomed to certain work protections and safety expectations—don’t like moving glass capable of shattering inches from their faces. Chinese floor managers grow frustrated with the pace of American production. An A Team of American workers is brought to China to see how Chinese factories operate, and impressed ooohs and aaahs are forthcoming, not just because of the Chinese factory floor—a model of efficiency—but also because of what the Chinese deliver at a company party: Workers stage an impressive talent show with costumes and lighting effects; the American visitors muster a dispiriting version of the inevitable “YMCA" dance routine.
Before the end credits roll, American Factory has pressed a number of hot buttons: fair wages, unionization, workplace protections, foreign investment, immigration and political influence are among them. In sync with their celebrity producers’ reputations, the filmmakers maintain their cool. If the score does rise to a stirring pitch during the pro-union speeches, betraying at least a hint of partiality, for the most part the various questions and responses are represented in an extremely evenhanded way, with the filmmakers using the access they have to give full expression to the various sides to their story. Who is saying what is often one of the revelations—at times jaw-dropping—of the film.
One of the film’s most poignant scenes is from the veteran filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert’s short film The Last Truck, which captures the last vehicle to roll out of the plant before closing.
Make sure to watch the enlightening discussion between filmmakers and the Obamas that follows the film on Netflix. Factory is a solid inaugural effort for this lauded partnership, an indication that more good films should follow.
Streaming on Netflix