It’s been a busy month for Yellow Springs filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert. Earlier this month The Museum of Modern Art opened a career retrospective Julia Reichert: 50 Years in Film | MoMA . And just today Netflix announced a Release Date for their latest film, “American Factory.” This eye-popping look at the differences between American and Chinese workers when they come together at a Chinese car-glass factory in Ohio, will open globally in 190 countries on Netflix and in select North American theaters on August 21. Netflix acquired the non-fiction feature out of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Directing Award for U.S. Documentary and became a top early contender in the 2020 Oscar race.
“We are honored and thrilled that Netflix and Higher Ground are teaming up to bring ‘American Factory’ to the world,” said Reichert and Bognar in a statement. “Their energy and enthusiasm is infectious. We’re excited about the national and global conversations we believe this film can spark.”
Julia Reichert and Steve Bognar
According to a Indie wire, “The Participant Media production focuses on the dramatic culture clash when a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand blue-collar Americans. Following its Sundance premiere, the film impressed Barack and Michelle Obama, who launched their Netflix-partnered Higher Ground Productions last spring “to harness the power of storytelling,” as the former U.S. president described it at the time. This marks the first title from Higher Ground to premiere on the streaming service.”
Stay tuned for more information on how the film release will be celebrated locally.
