“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 world, unite. You have nothing to lose but your chains!”
Netflix’s “American Factory” comes from Higher Ground, the production company of the former president and his wife Michelle Obama. It tells the story of a Chinese company occupying a shuttered General Motors plant in Moraine, Ohio.
“Congrats to Julia and Steven [Bognar], the filmmakers behind American Factory for telling such a complex, moving story about the very human consequences of wrenching economic change,” Barack Obama tweeted following the win.
“Glad to see two talented and downright good people take home the Oscar for Higher Ground’s first release.”