Watch American Factory

American Factory is a documentary film directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert. It was released in 2019 and produced by Barack and Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground Productions. The film shines a light on the culture clash between Chinese and American workers at a former General Motors plant in Dayton, Ohio, which has been taken over by a Chinese automotive glass-making company called Fuyao.

The documentary begins by showing the closure of the GM factory in 2008, which left thousands of workers unemployed. In 2015, Fuyao Glass America reopened the plant, offering jobs to many of the former GM workers. This relocation of the factory to the US was seen as a symbol of hope for the struggling US economy, but tensions soon began to arise between the American and Chinese workers.

The American workers were not used to Fuyao's strict adherence to Chinese work culture, which included working long hours and not taking breaks. This culture clash is highlighted throughout the film, with the Chinese workers struggling to understand the American union culture and the American workers feeling alienated and disrespected by their Chinese counterparts.

The film primarily follows the lives of three workers at the factory: Wong He, a Chinese foreman who has been sent over to oversee the American workers; Rob Haerr, an American worker who was laid off from GM and struggles to adjust to the new working conditions under Fuyao; and Jill Lamantia, an American quality control inspector who feels a sense of responsibility to make sure the glass being produced is safe for the public.

Throughout the film, we see the struggles of these three workers and their colleagues as they attempt to navigate the challenges posed by their cultural differences. We see Rob and his fellow American workers fighting for better working conditions and better pay, while Wong He struggles to maintain control over the factory and adhere to the stricter standards of the Chinese workers.

At the heart of the documentary is the clash between the American ideal of workers' rights and the Chinese concept of workers as tools for the greater good. The film does a good job of portraying both sides of the argument without taking sides, allowing the audience to make up their own minds as to which approach is more effective.

The documentary also touches on wider issues of globalization and the impact it has on workers around the world. Fuyao's decision to relocate to the US was a business move designed to take advantage of cheaper labor, but it had a significant impact on the lives of the workers involved. The film shows how the jobs provided by Fuyao are not necessarily the solution to the economic struggles of the region.

American Factory is a well-crafted documentary that shines a light on the struggle between cultures and the impact of globalization on workers. The audience is left to ponder the future of American manufacturing and the wider impact of Chinese investment in the US. The film is both engaging and thought-provoking and is a worthy addition to the Obama's Higher Ground Productions roster.

American Factory is a 2019 documentary with a runtime of 1 hour and 50 minutes. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 7.4 and a MetaScore of 86.