STRONG, BEAUTIFUL DAYTON DOES THE OSCARS
Former GM, Fuyao worker calls Academy Awards experience ‘mind boggling.’
Chances are Robert “Bobby” Allen had a more mind-blowing Sunday last week than any of his neighbors.
Not only did the Washington Twp. resident watch the movie that tells his story — “American Factory” directed by Yellow Springs residents Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar — win an Academy Award, but he and former co-workers from Fuyao Glass America in Moraine mixed and mingled with a bevy of celebrities.
“(It is) unreal to see stars on the red carpet. As soon as you walked in, there are hundreds of photographers clustered together just taking pictures. Then you move onto the next section under the tent which has the public gallery on one side with hundreds of reporters from all over the world calling out the stars for an interview,” he said of the experience. “You go up hundreds of red carpeted steps into the Dolby Theatre. Once inside you are not allowed to leave or return only during a commercial. Watching a live TV show and seeing all the behindthe-scenes preparation is mind boggling.”
Allen’s wife, Carolyn, was his plus one at the ceremony.
The Centerville City Schools custodian was one of the people featured in the film who attended the 92nd annual Academy Awards ceremony Sunday, Feb. 9, with a group supporting “American Factory.”
The others were Shawnea Rosser-Carter, Wong He, Rob Haerr and Jill Lamantia.
“American Factory” follows the creation of the Chinese-owned automotive glass-factory Fuyao Glass America in the same building that had once housed a General Motors assembly operation in Moraine.
Bognar and Reichert were also nominated for the “Best Documentary (short subject)” category for their 2009 HBO film “The Last Truck” about the closing of that very same GM plant in Moraine.
The former General Motors worker first became familiar with Bognar and Reichert during the filming of “The Last Truck.” He plays a small part in that film.