The Project

In September 2009, sitting at a Chicago trading desk in the middle of the night, I had an epiphany while reading a Kristof op-ed in The New York Times Magazine.

Here's the link: Saving the World's Women

It detailed the dire situation for women in many parts of the world, and how microborrowing - receiving a loan as small as $25 - can help to change a woman's life.  Using the money to start a profit-generating small business, female microborrowers gain self-esteem and a greater say in their household and community affairs.

Empowering women around the globe is the great imperative of our time, and the article left me with the strong sense that a film about this topic had to be made.

So with a chunk of personal savings and a commitment to do something, I counted on what I knew - basics about what made for a good investment because I'd worked as a trader, and some vague notion about what it takes to make a short film because I'd studied that in school - and took a big leap of faith regarding what I didn't know - how in the world to put together a feature film shot around the world.

It has now been two years since I built a website, put a volunteer crew together, and headed to the first country we shot in, Paraguay, thanks in large part to funding from our first crowdsource funding initiative early last year.  We also used those funds to cut a 20 minute short, and I set out across the country screening the footage in private homes, community centers, art galleries, and on college campuses from Seattle to Chicago to Manhattan to Ohio to North Carolina with the help of my friends.  I talked about my vision for the project: to showcase a balanced picture of microfinance in action as it affected women's lives.

Our growing group of supporters then helped get us to India to document the hotbed of philosophical debate surrounding microfinance, and to Kenya, a nation leading the globe in next generation microfinance and mobile money innovation. 

The People We've Filmed

Over the course of filming, we have been honored to have had the on-camera collaboration of global thought-leaders including Ela Bhatt (India's "grandmother" of microfinance and a member of Nelson Mandela's group of eminent global leaders, The Elders), Jennifer Riria (the first female Board Member of the Nairobi Stock Exchange), and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Nick Kristof, among others.

We're now on the home stretch literally and figuratively, filming Kiva City's launch in Detroit to capture domestic microfinance in action.  This is the last, vital narrative element before we head into the editing room and work to bring this movie to life.

Check out Kiva's support for our initiative here.

What We Need to Do

We need your help to finish editing, get ready for festival submissions, and to get the film distributed in order to further the discussions happening around the globe concerning microfinance today.

We also plan to accompany the film's release with social action campaigns and community outreach initiatives that will allow viewers to engage directly with programs and policies related to microfinance and women.

Microfinance in Detroit?

Microfinance has gotten a lot of press because of its applications in developing countries like those we've filmed in - Pargauay, India, and Kenya.  But microfinance is happening within the US, too. Given the recent launch of Kiva City in Detroit, we will be profiling how social media and crowdfunding can help finance small businesses within the US, all with a few clicks.

Our Team

I launched this project in September 2009 because I care about women and because I thought the possibilities surrounding microfinance were so exciting.  From there we put together a crew, including Director of Photography Steve Hiller, who has worked on more than 50 studio Hollywood films; Composer Matty Bernstein, who has produced for the Grammy-nominated Shiny Toy Guns; and many other wonderful people who wanted to contribute their talent and energy to the project!  Our Audio Engineer Dom Mendicino, who works full-time in a Chicago recording studio, has been a tireless contributer and zen-master to the project (maintaining amazing calm even during the most difficult travel conditions).  Producer Lou Karsen got us up-and-running in the first place, and Producer Megan Hryndza has gone above and beyond time and again to help keep this project alive - as well as many others who had made sacrifices or gone the extra mile for us.  Thank you to all.

Volunteers!

Our crew is made up of volunteers: they work for little or no pay to keep this project running.

How We've Made it This Far

We've funded this project so far through the generous contributions of friends and family who donated through our letter-writing campaigns, through other crowdsource fundraising drives, through generous grants from the Duke University community, and by dipping into our personal savings accounts. I've paid more than 1/3 of the cost of the project to date myself, but we need your help to keep going!

Thanks!

We've got some great thank you gifts, and we'd love to get them out to you.  Your pledges will be appreciated more than you know as we work to finish this labor of love  - a work intended to make more people aware of all the good things a $25 loan to a woman can truly achieve - and share it with the world.

Thank you for joining us in this endeavor.

Warm Regards,

Rachel

Thanks to Michael Key of the Chicago-based William Fillmore for composing the music in the video above.  Hear more at www.williamfillmore.com!

*If you'd prefer to make a tax-deductible donation using our fiscal sponsor, you can do so through our website, www.microlendingfilm.com, by clicking on the 'How to Help' button. Thank you so much!