‘American Factory’ Gets Oscar Nomination

Published on January 14, 2020

The first documentary released by Barack and Michelle Obama’s company, Higher Ground, has received an Oscar nomination. Despite American Factory just debuting on Netflix last year during the Sundance Film Festival, it is now amongst other productions to be considered for best documentary feature. It was filmed by Julia Reichert, Jeff Reichert, and Steven Bognar. Other films that have been nominated under the same category include “The Cave,” “The Edge of Democracy,” “For Sama,” and “Honeyland.”

Acknowledgements

Our former POTUS tweeted:

“Glad to see American Factory’s Oscar nod for Best Documentary. It’s the kind of story we don’t see often enough and it’s exactly what Michelle and I hope to achieve with Higher Ground. Congrats to the incredible filmmakers and entire team!”

Our former First Lady also took to social media to show her support stating on Instagram that:

“I couldn’t be happier that Julia Reichert, Steven Bognar, and all of the incredible people behind #AmericanFactory have been nominated for the Best Documentary Oscar. What Julia and Steve capture on film is at times painful, at times exhilarating, but always thoughtful and always real—exactly the kind of story Barack and I wanted to lift up with Higher Ground Productions. I hope you’ll see for yourself by checking it out on @Netflix.”

The Gist Of It

According to a press release by Netflix, the documentary revolves around a post-industrial Ohio, where a Chinese billionaire starts a new industrial unit “in the husk” of a forsaken General Motors plant, in which he “hires two thousand blue-collar Americans.” Barack Obama explains that he liked the film because of “its nuanced, honest portrayal of the way a changing global economy plays out in real lives. It offers a window into people as they actually are and it’s the kind of story we don’t see often enough.” The Obamas have always been advocates of transparency and realness, which is why it’s not a surprise when they engage in such a revealing production as American Factory.

In 2018, the couple signed an agreement to produce projects, seven in total, for Netflix through Higher Ground. Mr. Obama stated that the company was founded to “harness the power of storytelling.” All seven projects will have social and political themes such as race, class, democracy, and civil rights. All with the purpose of educating and connecting people. The documentary was produced with the help of Participant Media and has received significant critical acclaim since its release in August of 2019.

Congratulations Have Been Ordered

Being the first time an ex-president was part of such recognition, it is not the first time the documentary has experienced praise under the spotlight. Last October, the documentary was also part of the films nominated for the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards. It received nominations back then for: Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Political Documentary, and Best Editing. It won an award for Best Political Documentary and tied for Best Director award with “They Shall Not Grow Old.”

Filmed from 2015 to 2017, the filmmakers were granted permission by Fuyao Glass industry at both their Chinese and American locations. They were moved into making this film since the events they aimed to display take place in the same Moraire Assembly they focused on in their 2009 film, The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant. For the Mandarin parts of the film, they included Chinese filmmakers Yiqian Zhang and Mijie Li. The directors described them as pivotal in providing a connection to the Chinese portions of the film.

Another sample of fame can be found in an issue of New York Magazine, in which David Edelstein wrote “it’s a great, expansive, deeply humanist work, angry but empathetic to its core. It gestures towards the end of the working world we know – and to the rise of the machines.”

You can watch the 92nd Oscars Academy Awards live on February 9th on ABC.

Argenis Ovalles is an Editorial Intern at Grit Daily. He currently writes at Vocal Media and Theater Pizzazz.

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