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== Reception ==
== Reception ==
After the film’s screening at Sundance, the film garnered positive reviews. On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has an approval rating of 96% based on reviews from 55 critics, with an average of 8.51/10. The site's consensus reads: "''American Factory'' takes a thoughtful – and troubling – look at the dynamic between workers and employers in the 21st-century globalized economy."<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/american_factory|title=American Factory|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|accessdate=February 11, 2019}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]] it has a weighted average score of 86 out of 100 based on 20 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/american-factory|title=American Factory|website=[[Metacritic]]|accessdate=August 29, 2019}}</ref>
After the film’s screening at Sundance, the film garnered universal acclaim. On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has an approval rating of 96% based on reviews from 55 critics, with an average of 8.51/10. The site's consensus reads: "''American Factory'' takes a thoughtful – and troubling – look at the dynamic between workers and employers in the 21st-century globalized economy."<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/american_factory|title=American Factory|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|accessdate=February 11, 2019}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]] it has a weighted average score of 86 out of 100 based on 20 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/american-factory|title=American Factory|website=[[Metacritic]]|accessdate=August 29, 2019}}</ref>


David Edelstein of ''[[New York Magazine]]'' wrote: "It’s a great, expansive, deeply humanist work, angry but empathetic to its core. It gestures toward the end of the working world we know – and to the rise of the machines."<ref>{{cite web |date= August 23, 2019 |author= David Edelstein |author-link= David Edelstein |title= The Obamas' Netflix Doc American Factory Gestures Toward the End of the Working World |url= https://www.vulture.com/2019/08/american-factory-review-obamas-netflix-doc-is-eye-opening.html |website= Vulture.com |publisher= [[New York Magazine]] }}</ref>
David Edelstein of ''[[New York Magazine]]'' wrote: "It’s a great, expansive, deeply humanist work, angry but empathetic to its core. It gestures toward the end of the working world we know – and to the rise of the machines."<ref>{{cite web |date= August 23, 2019 |author= David Edelstein |author-link= David Edelstein |title= The Obamas' Netflix Doc American Factory Gestures Toward the End of the Working World |url= https://www.vulture.com/2019/08/american-factory-review-obamas-netflix-doc-is-eye-opening.html |website= Vulture.com |publisher= [[New York Magazine]] }}</ref>
Eric Kohn at ''[[IndieWire]]'' wrote that it's "A fascinating tragicomedy about the incompatibility of American and Chinese industries."<ref name="Kohn">{{cite news|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2019/01/american-factory-review-sundance-1202038438/ |title=American Factory' Review: A Cross-Cultural Working-Class Doc, Via 'The Office' – Sundance|last=Kohn|first=Eric|date=January 26, 2019|url-status= live|publisher=[[IndieWire]]}}</ref>
Eric Kohn at ''[[IndieWire]]'' wrote that it's "A fascinating tragicomedy about the incompatibility of American and Chinese industries."<ref name="Kohn">{{cite news|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2019/01/american-factory-review-sundance-1202038438/ |title=American Factory' Review: A Cross-Cultural Working-Class Doc, Via 'The Office' – Sundance|last=Kohn|first=Eric|date=January 26, 2019|url-status= live|publisher=[[IndieWire]]}}</ref>


The film won "[[Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature|Best Documentary Feature]]" at the [[92nd Academy Awards|2020 Academy Awards]].


=== Accolades ===
=== Accolades ===

Revision as of 02:17, 10 February 2020

American Factory
Directed by
Produced by
  • Jeff Reichert
  • Julie Parker Benello
Cinematography
  • Steven Bognar
  • Aubrey Keith
  • Jeff Reichert
  • Julia Reichert
  • Erick Stoll
Edited byLindsay Utz
Music byChad Cannon
Production
companies
Distributed byNetflix
Release dates
  • January 25, 2019 (2019-01-25) (Sundance)
  • August 21, 2019 (2019-08-21) (United States)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryUnited States
Languages
  • English
  • Mandarin

American Factory (美国工厂; 美國工廠) is a 2019 Oscar-winning American documentary film directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, about Chinese company Fuyao's factory in Moraine, a city near Dayton, Ohio, that occupies Moraine Assembly, a shuttered General Motors plant. The film had its festival premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. It is distributed by Netflix and is the first film produced by Barack Obama and Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground Productions.[1][2][3]

Production

Filmed from February 2015 until the end of 2017, Reichert and Bognar were granted filming access by Fuyao at both their Ohio and Chinese plant locations. They were inspired to make this film as the events they aimed to depict were taking place in the same Moraine Assembly plant once occupied by General Motors, which was the central topic of their 2009 documentary The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant.[4]

It was not until the editing process that the filmmakers decided to centralize the experiences of workers themselves during the Fuyao plant take-over, which they describe as the "beating heart of the story".[5]

The Mandarin Chinese language portions of the film were facilitated by the inclusion of two Chinese filmmakers, Yiqian Zhang and Mijie Li, one or both of whom would travel to Ohio monthly. The directors accredit these two as essential in providing a connection to the Chinese subjects depicted in the film.[6]

Style

The filmmakers implemented a fly-on-the-wall documentary filmmaking approach, in which no dialogue external to the subjects of the film is included, and the sounds of the factory and the dialogue of the workers is prioritized. In order to make focal such an audio/visual approach, the filmmakers implemented the use of lavalier microphones to effectively balance worker dialogue amidst noise emanating from the factory's machinery. The voice-over narration provided by the factory workers was often recorded at their respective homes, independently from the factory setting. According to Bognar, implementing the film's narration in this way to create an effect of depicting a worker's inner monologue.[7]

Reception

After the film’s screening at Sundance, the film garnered universal acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 96% based on reviews from 55 critics, with an average of 8.51/10. The site's consensus reads: "American Factory takes a thoughtful – and troubling – look at the dynamic between workers and employers in the 21st-century globalized economy."[8] On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 86 out of 100 based on 20 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[9]

David Edelstein of New York Magazine wrote: "It’s a great, expansive, deeply humanist work, angry but empathetic to its core. It gestures toward the end of the working world we know – and to the rise of the machines."[10] Eric Kohn at IndieWire wrote that it's "A fascinating tragicomedy about the incompatibility of American and Chinese industries."[11]


The film won "Best Documentary Feature" at the 2020 Academy Awards.

Accolades

Academy Awards

Year Category Nominated work Result
2020 Best Documentary Feature American Factory Won

Directors Guild Awards

Year Category Nominated work Result
2020 Documentaries Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert – American Factory Won

Producers Guild of America Awards

Year Category Nominated work Result
2020 Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert and Jeff Reichert – American Factory Nominated

Home media

In January 2020, Netflix slated American Factory, along with The Irishman, Marriage Story and Atlantics, for DVD and Blu-ray release via the The Criterion Collection.[12]

References

  1. ^ Fleming Jr., Mike (February 1, 2019). "Netflix Acquiring Sundance Documentary 'American Factory'". Deadline Hollywood.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ "'American Factory': When A Chinese Company Takes Over An Ohio Factory". NPR. 2019-08-21.
  3. ^ Gonzalez, Sandra. "Barack and Michelle Obama's production company scores first Oscar nomination". CNN. Retrieved 2020-01-14.
  4. ^ Wilkinson, Alissa (2019-08-21). "Work is going global. American Factory's directors explain how they captured its challenges". Vox. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  5. ^ "Meet the Academy Award Nominees: Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert--'The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant'". International Documentary Association. 2010-02-28. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
  6. ^ Wilkinson, Alissa (2019-08-21). "Work is going global. American Factory's directors explain how they captured its challenges". Vox. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
  7. ^ Wilkinson, Alissa (2019-08-21). "Work is going global. American Factory's directors explain how they captured its challenges". Vox. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
  8. ^ "American Factory". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  9. ^ "American Factory". Metacritic. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  10. ^ David Edelstein (August 23, 2019). "The Obamas' Netflix Doc American Factory Gestures Toward the End of the Working World". Vulture.com. New York Magazine.
  11. ^ Kohn, Eric (January 26, 2019). "American Factory' Review: A Cross-Cultural Working-Class Doc, Via 'The Office' – Sundance". IndieWire.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "Netflix's 'The Irishman,' 'Marriage Story' Added to Criterion Collection". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
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