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JUlia Reichert and Steven Bognar were naturally delighted when American factory– their new documentary on the opening of a Chinese auto glass factory in Ohio and the resulting cultural issues – won the American documentary director's award at the Sundance Film Festival this year. But they were just as excited when they started meeting with distributors for their last event, and the most interested party turned out to be none other than Barack and Michelle Obama.
"We were surprised," admits Reichert shortly before American factoryOn August 21, she debuted on Netflix and the IFC Center in New York (with theatrical debuts in Washington, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Toronto and London). "We live in Ohio, which of course is still a pivotal state, and we worked very, very hard during the first election of the president and the second election, and we are huge fans."
American factory As part of their partnership with Netflix, the group Higher Ground Productions will make its debut in the press. Bognar acknowledges that his collaboration with the former couple First Couple (and the company's co-chairs, Priya Swaminathan and Tonia Davis) was not at all expected. . "It was a very big surprise. We did not plan it at all, "he says. "We were somehow blown away." Nevertheless, given the political actuality of this fictional tale, it is not difficult to understand why Obama was interested.
"What we heard at this meeting was that the First Lady was really related to the film because she came from a working class background. His father was a worker who wore his uniform and went to work every day, "says Reichert. "They both come from modest beginnings. The president also raised this point, but apparently more related to the political implications. Bognar also believes that "the issues the film raises about the bigger picture" about globalization and the fate of American and Chinese workers in the 21st century, were natural draws for the former commander-in-chief.
In addition, "if you think about it, they are both storytellers. They have written excellent books and in their speeches, they tend to tell stories, "says Reichert. Bognar adds, "One of Higher Ground's goals is to bring people together through storytelling. "
There is certainly a lot of history to be found in American factory, which describes in detail the efforts of the Chinese company Fuyao (headed by a chairman of the board) to establish a carglass manufacturing plant in the same space that Reichert and Bognar described for the first time in their nominated film 2009 The last truck: closing of a GM factory. Their saga begins in an encouraging way, with avid American workers who join Fuyao alongside imported Chinese workers. However, once the plant is operational, different attitudes, methods and expectations among US and Chinese employees of the company create growing discontent and, ultimately, a battle for unionization.
For Reichert and Bognar, a return to the factory they had previously documented was not perceptible: "We thought we would never go back to this factory," says Bognar. However, their knowledge of the environment and its history, as well as the people they met during filming The last truck, made them perfectly suited to tell American factoryEvents. "After making this movie and getting to know these workers, it helped us understand the issues that prevented them from finding another job in the manufacturing sector, especially in the same location," says Reichert. "People wanted to go back there. It had been a good experience for them to be in this factory for years.
"At first, we did not understand the stakes of the Chinese side, but we came to understand this by meeting some Chinese people," she said. "And [also from] our Chinese co-producers, who have helped us understand the Chinese heavyweight in recent decades, China emerging from rural poverty for the benefit of the burgeoning middle class. As the situation of our workers has deteriorated, Chinese workers are experiencing a real increase. The Chinese workers therefore feel a great sense of pride in their vocation, their employer and their country, but their American colleagues have had a different experience. perspective. "I think American workers are in a really different place. Their circumstances are greatly diminished. Their country is in turmoil, in terms of leadership. So they do not feel the same kind of commitment to society. "
In the center of American factory is the growing tension between Chinese and American ways of doing things. Americans refuse the Chinese people's desire to work hard and ignore basic security standards, while the Chinese regard their fellow Americans as lazy. For Bognar, such dichotomies exist, but are not necessarily dry. "We heard in the factory a slogan that the Chinese live to work and the Americans work to live," he recalls. "The more time we spent with Chinese workers, who were away from their families for a year or two, we could feel their loneliness and their longing for their families. We therefore feel that this is simply not true. The Chinese miss their children like the Americans. It's more about what's normalized. What is standardized for Chinese is that you work 12 hours a day, six days a week. What is normal for Americans is that you do not do it: you work eight hours a day, five days a week. Expectations and the landscape you are used to have a considerable influence on your attitude towards work. "
"I think what we tried to do with this film, once we saw what we had, was to show you what globalization looks like on a human and intimate scale in a factory."
For Reichert, it is essential to recognize these distinctions. "We must learn to understand the different cultures of the world. I think what we tried to do with this film, once we saw what we had, was to show you what globalization looks like on a human and intimate scale in a factory. I think it's valuable. We are not trying to come to a conclusion or say that's what we have to do about something. All that we could do best in this time of great change – economically and culturally, around the world – was present, in the most direct and visceral way, what did this globalization look like and what did it look like? She looks like. "
The more Fuyao employees in the United States are inspired by a sense of solidarity among Fuyao employees, the more the president and the management strive to cancel it, including by calling on the company's prevention consultants. movement. While this amplifies the impression that the Chinese are not interested in treating workers in a reasonable manner, Bognar quickly points out that "Fuyao has been informed of this type of approach by the Americans. This is not a case of Chinese imports … US companies are trying to get around the unions and are trying to reduce the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules. They try to get away with this impact as little as possible. "
Therefore, "it's not a business done anyway. China is not a monolith and it is not as if its attitudes towards the environment or health and safety can not evolve. We hope that if China is present in the world – especially in the United States or in Western and Northern Europe, where the regulatory climate is more stringent and a broader safety net is established for workers – this will affect their industries. "
Change is clearly in progress here and in China, Bognar revealing that the president had explained to them that one of the reasons he had come to the United States was the rising cost of labor. at home – a development that he feared to eventually turn China into a culture of service and consumption that America has become. Thus, according to Bognar, any attempt to catalog the American and Chinese workers goes on the sidelines: "We do not believe in this kind of reductive comparison-reduction, because there is nuance everywhere. We can say that the Chinese are more conformist, but look at what is happening in Hong Kong right now. These people are the least conformist in the world right now. "
Situated between often opposing forces, Reichert and Bognar struggled to remain impartial, especially when trade union debates started. According to Reichert, this boiled down to a seemingly innocuous decision, which they came to understand, had much broader implications.
"You go around the factory and it's very hot on concrete floors. It's huge, and you travel for miles carrying heavy objects, "she explains. "And sometimes, a member of the management zoomed in on one of those golf carts and said," Hey, jump in, do you want a ride? "We were wondering if it was so much better.We were passing by a lot of people who were working with whom we knew and with whom we were building relationships, and then realized that it made them think we were part of management; that we did that [film] on the part of the company, because they certainly have not had the chance to take golf carts and walk around. So we had to stop doing it. To stay neutral, we could not do it. "
American factoryThe conclusion suggests that the next big labor revolution will be automation and Reichert sees a positive potential. "We have automated since gin cotton," she laughs. "Automation should not be perceived as a threat; it should be seen as an opportunity for working people not to break their backs and not suffer repetitive stress injuries or surgeries because of their work. This should be seen as an opportunity. "
It concedes, however, that automation will only benefit those who have a say in its implementation. "We are not going to have a solid work future or a strong middle class if workers do not have bargaining power or collective voice. Because who will speak for the average worker? I think the workers have learned that you can not expect the government to do that. Certainly, companies are not going to do it. So I guess we came to see that everywhere in the world we would have a better world if workers had more voice in their daily business activities. "
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