THE NOTHING FACTORY

One night, the workers at a Portuguese lift factory discover that management is secretly having machinery removed – the sign of an impending mass layoff. They refuse to play along and occupy their workplace. When management disappears, they are left behind in a half-empty factory: without orders, without a boss, facing the question of what becomes of a place where nothing is produced any more, and how one might manage it oneself. In “The Nothing Factory” (original title “A Fábrica de Nada”, Portugal 2017), Pedro Pinho tells of a self-management none of them chose.

Pinho shot on grainy 16mm stock and crosses neorealism with discussion scenes and elements of the musical – a nearly three-hour panorama of labour in post-crisis Europe. The film premiered in the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in Cannes in 2017, where it won the FIPRESCI prize of the international film critics. In 2017, “The Nothing Factory” was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin.

Shown at the 2017 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.

All films 2017 · Film Archive