Documentary

American Factory

- 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.

Release Date : 2019-08-21

Language :MandarinEnglish

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Higher GroundParticipantField of Vision

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Self - Vice President, Fuyao

Original Name : Junming 'Jimmy' Wang

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self - U.S. Senator, Ohio

Original Name : Sherrod Brown

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self - Vice President, Fuyao Glass America

Original Name : Dave Burrows

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self - President, Fuyao Glass America

Original Name : John Gauthier

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self - Furnace Supervisor

Original Name : Rob Haerr

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self - Lamination Specialist

Original Name : Cynthia Harper

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self - Furance Engineer

Original Name : Wong He

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self - Forklift Operator

Original Name : Jill Lamantia

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self - President, Fuyao Glass America

Original Name : Jeff Daochuan Liu

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self - Glass Inspector

Original Name : Shawnea Rosser

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self - Fuyao Attorney

Original Name : Rebecca Ruan-O'Shaughnessy

Gender : Male

Reviews

rsanek

@rsanek

2021-06-23

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.