American Factory

Fuyao Glass Industry Group Co., Ltd.
Industry	Manufacturing, Automotive glass
Headquarters	Moraine, Ohio, United States
Products	Automotive glass

American Factory () is a 2019 American documentary film directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, which examines the operations of the Chinese corporation Fuyao at its manufacturing facility located in Moraine, near Dayton, Ohio. This factory occupies the site of the former General Motors Moraine Assembly plant. The documentary debuted at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and is available through Netflix. It marks the inaugural acquisition by the production company Higher Ground Productions, founded by Barack and Michelle Obama. At the 92nd Academy Awards, American Factory secured the award for Best Documentary Feature.

Synopsis

Set in post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese entrepreneur establishes a factory within a former General Motors facility, employing approximately two thousand American workers. Early enthusiasm diminishes as advanced Chinese management techniques come into conflict with the established working-class American environment.

Production

Shot between February 2015 and late 2017, Reichert and Bognar were granted unprecedented access to Fuyao’s manufacturing sites in both Ohio and China. This project revisits the same Moraine Assembly plant that was previously featured in their 2009 Oscar-nominated short documentary The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant.

Chinese filmmakers Yiqian Zhang and Mijie Li contributed significantly to the Mandarin-language portions, frequently traveling to Ohio to provide vital cultural context and maintain connections with Chinese participants.

Style

Employing a fly-on-the-wall method, the directors emphasized authentic factory ambiance by capturing worker conversations using Lavalier microphones amid industrial noise. Narration by employees was recorded separately at their homes, producing an effect similar to internal monologues that heightens realism.

Critical response

Manohla Dargis from The New York Times commended the film for its impartial political perspective and subtle depiction of cultural friction, highlighting that the filmmakers refrain from casting blame despite showcasing tensions between management and labor. In New York, David Edelstein described it as a profoundly humanistic portrayal reflecting on labor transformations in an era of technological advancement. Eric Kohn of IndieWire characterized it as "a compelling tragicomedy illustrating the challenges between American and Chinese industrial practices."

Awards

At the 92nd Academy Awards, the documentary earned Best Documentary Feature. Additionally, it garnered three nominations at the 72nd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, winning the award for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program awarded to directors Bognar and Reichert.

External links