Brilliantly directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, this Sundance award-winning documentary explores the culture clash that envelopes workers and management when a giant Chinese company reopens a shuttered General Motors auto plant in Dayton, Ohio. Led by Chinese billionaire Cao Dewang, Fuyao Glass America invests in the long-forgotten property and hires over 2000 Americans to staff it. However, the micromanagement of the Chinese managers soon results in a befuddled conflict with their blue-collar employees. As Bognar and Reichert let this meeting of two very different communities play out, we are asked to wonder which approach to business and community should prevail, and whether there is a way to mend the cultural divide.
Filmmaker Steven Bognar is known for his films A Lion in the House (06) and Picture Day (02). Co-director Julia Reichert filmography includes Making Morning Star (15) and Saving Mes Aynak (14).
"This documentary feels like the beginning of a very different America and that we have such an intimate portrait of the change to come is a remarkable achievement." - The Film Stage