Folks, we know the Obamas are go-getters. The former first family of the United States has a serious can-do attitude.
First there was the A+ presidenting, the parenting, and raising the world’s greatest pups Sunny and Bo, best in any — and indeed every — show.
Then there was a Nobel Peace Prize for POTUS 44, and three Grammys, for the audiobooks of the couple’s memoirs. Now, they’ve won an Oscar, although they’re reluctant to blow their own trumpets.
Here’s all you need to know about the first Netflix President’s inaugural Academy Award.
It’s (technically) not their Oscar
Dad, husband, President, citizen, Oscar winner ... hang on, Barack Obama won’t be updating his Twitter bio just yet. “Congrats to Julia and Steven, the filmmakers behind American Factory, for telling such a complex, moving story about the very human consequences of wrenching economic change,” he tweeted on Sunday.
The Obamas signed on to the project after it was made, which means they weren’t involved in the actual production of the film. The documentary, directed by filmmakers Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar, was however the first release from Higher Ground Productions, a company the former president and first lady formed in 2018 in a multi-year collaboration with the Netflix streaming service. Not bad for your first ride at the rodeo.
China comes to Hollywood, via Ohio
American Factory is unquestionably a heavy-hitter. The documentary examines life in Ohio where a Chinese billionaire opened a factory in a former General Motors plant and hired 2,000 people. It’s a microcosm of the modern struggle between imported automatons and increasingly redundant working class. “Our film is from Ohio and China ... but it really could be from anywhere that people put on a uniform, punch a clock, try to make their families have a better life,” Reichert said when accepting the award.
Obama Inc
Touching on issues of race and class, democracy and civil rights, American Factory will set the tone for Higher Ground Productions. “We hope to cultivate and curate the talented, inspiring, creative voices who are able to promote greater empathy and understanding between peoples and help them share their stories with the entire world,” Barack Obama said when they signed on with the streaming giant. Rumoured projects with the newly emancipated Duke and Duchess of Sussex, possibly in London, abound.
In the meantime, a confirmed highlight reel includes Bloom, a post-World War II New York drama series exploring the barriers faced by women and people of colour, and Crip Camp, a docu-film about the origins of the disability rights movement. That’s range we can believe in.
