Barack and Michelle Obama to launch first feature film with Netflix
The production company launched by Barack and Michelle Obama has created a documentary charting US industrial decline.
American Factory will stream on Netflix and explores Chinese investment in the US.
The documentary was backed by the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions.
It follows the 2008 closure of the General Motors plant in Dayton, Ohio, which left swathes of workers unemployed.
The manufacturing site was then taken over by the US wing of the Chinese company Fuyao Glass.
Optimism over new employment in the community gave way to friction between workers and management, with staff seeking to unionise.
What truly makes our country great is its diversity. I’ve seen that beauty in so many ways over the years. Whether we are born here or seek refuge here, there’s a place for us all. We must remember it’s not my America or your America. It’s our America.
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) July 19, 2019
Their struggles are captured in the new documentary, which has been described as an “everyday political drama”.
The film was directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, and will be shown in selected cinemas as well as on Netflix from August 21.