American Factory main backdrop
American Factory main poster

American Factory

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7.2/10 • 460

2019-08-211h 50m

Documentary

Cultures collide. Hope survives.

In post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand blue-collar Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America.

Directors
Julia Reichert, Steven Bognar
Editors
Lindsay Utz

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Junming 'Jimmy' Wang

    Junming 'Jimmy' Wang

    Self - Vice President, Fuyao

  2. Sherrod Brown

    Sherrod Brown

    Self - U.S. Senator, Ohio

  3. Dave Burrows

    Dave Burrows

    Self - Vice President, Fuyao Glass America

  4. John Gauthier

    John Gauthier

    Self - President, Fuyao Glass America

  5. Rob Haerr

    Rob Haerr

    Self - Furnace Supervisor

  6. Cynthia Harper

    Cynthia Harper

    Self - Lamination Specialist

  7. Wong He

    Wong He

    Self - Furance Engineer

  8. Jill Lamantia

    Jill Lamantia

    Self - Forklift Operator

  9. Jeff Daochuan Liu

    Jeff Daochuan Liu

    Self - President, Fuyao Glass America

Reviews1

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rsanek Avatar

rsanek

Sep 19, 2020

8/10

You always read about "cultural differences" as being something that must be overcome when dealing with international projects, but that language always felt so abstract to me; if anything, it seemed like more of an excuse as to why things might be delayed rather than a real problem. This doc did a great job of telling the story of what that concept really means in practice. American Factory shows you how much friction is created due to the incongruity in cultural ideas about work ethic, personal freedoms, power, and process. I think that was the highlight of the story for me. For me as an American, there were also feelings of frustration about having a country that doesn't have an answer for these people; their life goes from making $29 working for a US company, to making $12 for a Chinese company. The anti-labor-organizing that we see from Fuyao in the film isn't even unique to this being a China-based company; our home-grown Amazon does a pretty good job of hiring "labor relations" firms to weed out union organizing. I find myself agreeing with one of the speakers at a UAW event captured in the film: we've allowed our country to become one where the rich can exploit the poor, and it would be pretty cool to take it back.

Media

  • American Factory poster
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  • American Factory poster
  • American Factory poster
  • American Factory poster
  • American Factory poster
  • American Factory poster
  • American Factory poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
factory workerculture clashohiochineseamericanblue collar workermanufacturing plantlabor rights