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“The Communist Manifesto” got a shoutout during the 2020 Oscars. Julia Reichert, the co-director of best documentary winner “American Factory,” which was produced by former President Barack Obama’s new film company, apparently quoted from Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ infamous book during her acceptance speech on Sunday night. “Working people have it harder and harder these days — and we believe that things will get better when workers of the world unite,” Reichert said. The quote appeared to be a riff on the last lines of the 1848 political document, which are frequently translated from German as “Workers of the...

Former President Barack Obama played a direct role in the hardships of the workers featured in American Factory, the Oscar-winning documentary his new production company produced. But as Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), the former mayor of nearby Dayton, Ohio, wrote last year, the movie leaves out President Obama’s own role in making life worse for the GM workers who lost their jobs. Obama’s auto bailout, he recalled, helped force the plant’s closure and made it harder for the workers to find new jobs because his administration was dealing political favors to its favored union allies — and they were in...

It's been nearly a month since we found out the Netflix documentary "produced" by Barack and Michelle Obama, American Factory, was nominated for an Oscar for best documentary. American Factory debuted on Netflix in August and was the Obamas' first project under Higher Ground Productions. American Factory follows the story of a closed GM plant that was bought and re-opened by a Chinese billionaire. It wasn't shocking at all to find out the Obama-linked project was nominated for an Oscar. Had the Obamas been linked to Howard The Duck it would have been nominated for an Oscar. It was also...

Here are the winners at the 92nd annual Academy Awards that handed out Sunday night at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood:Best PictureParasite (Neon) A Barunson E&A Production Kwak Sin Ae and Bong Joon Ho, ProducersActress in a Leading RoleRenée Zellweger Judy (LD Entertainment and Roadside Attractions)Actor in a Leading RoleJoaquin Phoenix Joker (Warner Bros.)DirectingParasite (Neon) Bong Joon HoOriginal Song“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from Rocketman (Paramount) Music by Elton John Lyric by Bernie Taupin Original ScoreJoker (Warner Bros.) Hildur GuðnadóttirInternational FeatureParasite A Barunson E&A Production South KoreaMakeup and HairstylingBombshell (Lionsgate) Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan and Vivian Baker Visual Effects1917 (Universal/Amblin...

by Lynn Foster “The Communist Manifesto” got a shoutout during the 2020 Oscars. Julia Reichert, the co-director of best documentary winner “American Factory,” which was produced by former President Barack Obama’s new film company, apparently quoted from Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ infamous book during her acceptance speech on Sunday night. “Working people have it harder and harder these days — and we believe that things will get better when workers of the world unite,” Reichert said. The quote was a riff on the last lines of the 1848 political document, which are frequently translated from German as “Workers of the...

Barack Obama had something to celebrate today because the Netflix documentary he and wife Michelle produced, "American Factory," was predictably nominated for an Oscar for best documentary.“Glad to see American Factory’s Oscar nod for Best Documentary,” Obama tweeted. "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." Higher Ground is the name of the Obamas' production company. Last year they were accused of "deplorable behavior" over a trademark dispute over the name of the company."Congrats to the incredible filmmakers and entire team!” Obama added. Glad...

This week’s widespread media blitz heralding Netflix’s broadcast of its first Obama-endorsed presentation, “American Factory,” was more than synchronicity. It felt as though US publicists and journalists collectively exhaled their relief at finally regaining the bully pulpit. Reviews of “American Factory,” a doc by indie veterans Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar, were not reliable accounts of the film’s quality. Its lack of focus following a Chinese manufacturer’s takeover of a former General Motors plant in Ohio — a move that fails to relieve working-class anxieties but, instead, predicts job-market doom — didn’t faze flacks and reviewers. The media class saw...

In a final scene of the Netflix documentary “American Factory,” the chairman of a Chinese auto glass company walks through the sprawling floor of one of the company’s factories in Dayton, Ohio, as an aide points to different departments where employees will soon be replaced by robotic arms and other machines. “We’re hoping to cancel four workers in July or August,” the aide tells him, almost proudly, before adding, “They are too slow.” Scenes like this are typical in the film, which depicts the fallout after Shanghai-based Fuyao Glass revives a former GM plant and hires many of its former...

A certain former president and first lady have made their mark in Hollywood. “The Obamas settling into new role as Netflix producers,” said The Hollywood Reporter — referring of course to former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, who signed an exclusive production deal with Netflix some 15 months ago, then formed a Los Angeles-based production company called Higher Ground. More significantly, the couple is now readying their first release, a documentary titled “American Factory,” which chronicles the culture clash between Chinese and American workers in a U.S. auto glass factory. It is set to debut on Netflix before 139...