Doc Days 2019 Day 2: The plot thickens
I was underwhelmed by the traditional format of Doc Days’ opening night film, but Day 2 did not disappoint. Both films were incredibly engrossing and avoided the overused sit-down interview structure. Without further ado…
American Factory
American Factory is the story of a culture clash as a Chinese manufacturer opens a factory in the Ohio rust belt. Several years after a General Motors plant closed due to the 2008 recession, Chinese auto glass giant Fuyao elects to open an American location at the abandoned Dayton factory, rehiring many of the workers previously employed there. This reversal of the traditional strategy of American companies employing cheap Chinese labor shows how severely Dayton was impacted by the recession and represents the beginnings of a shift in global economic power.
Everyone involved initially approaches the situation optimistically. Dayton residents view it as a return to prosperity, and Chinese ownership sees it as a simple expansion of its existing business model. Both parties quickly realize that their assumptions are incorrect.
Taking full advantage of the city’s economic downturn, Fuyao pays employees considerably less than they made at General Motors. One factory worker claimed to have made $29 per hour at GM while only making $12 per hour at Fuyao. Additionally, working conditions are unsafe, and employees fear for their job security in the event of an accident. Fuyao ownership states that it will not support or recognize unionization, which would likely improve these issues.
Meanwhile, Fuyao management is upset with the productivity of its American workers. Its Chinese plants are not bound by American labor laws mandating a 40-hour work week. Their employees work 12-hour shifts and routinely only take 1–2 days off each month. This demanding work schedule is common practice in China, and thus, Fuyao managers view their American workers as lazy, unproductive, and entitled. Both groups make small efforts to understand each other that quickly prove fruitless. The divide widens as each side pushes harder to maintain its cultural idea of what a manufacturing plant should be.
As employees see the futility of their requests, they organize an effort to start a union. In response, Fuyao fires all of the vocally pro-union employees and hires a consulting firm to spread anti-union propaganda.
The film ends on an incredibly bleak note. Workers fail to unionize. Working conditions are still unsafe. A significant portion of employees have been fired. Despite Fuyao succeeding in its anti-union campaign, the company has still failed to solve its efficiency and profitability issues. Everyone loses.
This film shines a light on many of the fundamental issues of American late stage capitalism. Companies underpay and underinsure their workers while still struggling to turn a profit as investors value market share over bottom line. A resurrection of rust belt manufacturing may not be a return to the glory days of American prosperity as politicians would have you believe, but rather an inevitable symptom of the ever increasing wealth gap.
American Factory was purchased by Netflix after its Sundance premiere. No release date has been announced.
The Amazing Johnathan Documentary
I was expecting this to be a standard biodoc and was pleasantly surprised to discover each twist and turn of this dark comedic mystery. The Amazing Johnathan is a successful comic magician who was diagnosed with a terminal heart condition in 2014 and given one year to live. Three years later, he’s still alive and gets the itch to go back on tour. Director Benjamin Berman decides to document his comeback and analyze the psyche of a man living on the threshold of death.
The film is best viewed with absolutely no prior knowledge of its direction, but that makes for a boring blog post. What begins as a pensive analysis of human mortality quickly pivots into something else entirely. The movie takes a hard left turn about thirty minutes in when Berman discovers that Johnathan has allowed another film crew to create a separate documentary about him. From there, Berman turns the camera on himself and takes the audience inside the filmmaking process as he tries to differentiate his documentary from his rivals’.
Berman then begins to consider what makes good art and what makes art sell. What can he do to make his film stand out from the other documentary? Is it okay for him to do crazy shit on camera just for the sake of setting his film apart?
While he grapples with these questions, The Amazing Johnathan continues to live, and Berman grows suspicious of his alleged health issues. He begins to question everything that Johnathan has presented as truth and rethink his entire film. After all, Johnathan is a professional illusionist. How can he trust anything the man says?
There are many other twists and turns that I’ll let you discover on your own. The film is an incredibly fun ride that intelligently analyzes a myriad of ideas. Hulu purchased The Amazing Johnathan Documentary after its Sundance premiere and is scheduled to release it on August 16th.
That’s a wrap on Day 2. If you’re thinking about seeing a movie this weekend, come out to AFS Cinema and watch a thoughtful documentary. For the love of god, don’t go see the latest Avengers installment for the third fucking time.
Michael Dixon is a mild mannered accountant by day and a mild mannered movie watcher by night. He will not do your taxes for you. He lives in Austin, Texas with his lovely television and collection of fine whiskies. You can’t purchase his book anywhere because it doesn’t exist.
