American Factory (2019)
In 2008, GM closes a plant in Ohio. A Chinese company buys the plant in 2014 and invests in auto glass production.
(NR, 115 min.)
Showtimes
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
7:00 PM
This FREE screening is in partnership with Missouri Jobs With Justice. There will be a panel discussion following the film organized by MOJWJ.
Summary: 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. [Metacritic]
Starring: Junming 'Jimmy' Wang, Robert Allen, Sherrod Brown
Director: Julia Reichert, Steven Bognar
Genre(s): Documentary
"Complex, stirring, timely and beautifully shaped."
— Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
"Sharply delineates the possibilities - and the limits - of a modern global economy."
— Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly
"Thoroughly engrossing ... The way the directors are able to provide a portrait of empathy on all sides is astounding."
— Jordan Raup, The Film Stage
"The filmmakers' probing analysis reveals the basic principles of freedom and dignity within the political essence of labor issues."
— Richard Brody, New Yorker
"Of all the documentaries you see this year, this one most potently embodies the ever-changing sense of the words 'Made in America.'"
— Peter Debruge, Variety
"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."
— David Edelstein, New York Magazine (Vulture)
"It is, in essence, a scholarly, almost sociological treatment of the material, in a way that broadly speaks to the plight of these blue-collar workers, with an empathy that's personal but not partisan."
— Brian Lowry, CNN.com
"'American Factory,' an exquisite documentary set at the contradictory core where those forces converge, tells a macroeconomic story through the micro-level experiences of indelible real-life characters."
— Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
"American Factory tackles the challenges of globalization with much more depth and nuance than most reporting on the topic, precisely because it steps back to watch a story unfold over time and resists easy generalizations. It’s both soberly instructive and fascinating."
— Alissa Wilkinson, Vox
"Steve Bognar and Julia Reichert have produced in “American Factory” an invaluable snapshot of a moment where history is repeating itself, and trying to write a new, possibly dystopian ending. But it’s also a film full of beautiful human beings, trying desperately to make good for themselves and their families regardless of their nationality and culture."
— William Bibbiani, TheWrap
Support for the Moxie
Become A Member
