Sunday, 9th of February 2020 will be the hallmark of the 92nd Academy Awards (Oscars) and the Obamas are pacing fast so as not to be left out of the nominees’ list. Barack and Mitchell Obama acquired the film, ‘American Factory’ at the January’s Sundance Festival and the film will start streaming on Netflix from August 21st, 2019 (Wednesday) and on selected sites.
The one hour and fifty-minute documentary produced by Higher Ground Productions, Netflix’s allied company owned by the Obamas since 2018, has received a lot of pageantry from many film lovers and producers including Oscar nominee and film director Steven Bognar.
During its premiere, the documentary, according to the Guardian scoped the best director prize which prompted its immediate anticipated Oscar short-listing next year. The film explores the American work-life which has drastically changed due to the emergence of Chinese bosses whose management of the reopened factory within the USA is with utmost cruelty.
The film charts a Midwestern rust belt community’s journey from optimism at the plant’s reopening – bringing back vital jobs -in the midst of creeping anger and disillusionment as the Chinese management imposes exhausting demands on workers and sacks those who do not comply.
As highlighted previously by the Strait-Times Magazine the former first couple acquired American Factory at January’s Sundance Festival and will release it on Netflix and in select theatres from Aug 21 as the first offering from their Higher Ground Productions Company. “Mrs Obama said it resonated with her because her father had done an intense, hardworking job for decades just to provide for his family,” Bognar said.
‘American Factory’ is one of the many film projects that have been started by the Obamas after signing a streaming and production deal with Netflix as earlier on The Sauce, which has acquired the top spot in movie streaming. On top of that, the Obamas entered a deal last year, 2018, to produce exclusive content for Spotify.
Other pending Netflix projects that are being developed by Team Obama include “Crip Camp”, a documentary which will highlight the early days of disability rights movement and a biopic of anti-slavery campaigner Fredrick Douglass.
