Hi Friends!

Thanks so much again for your support and general awesomeness. :)  Because of you, we've surpassed our goal  - and ahead of schedule!  We're overwhelmed with gratitude, and so excited that you have joined us in this final push to bring The Microlending Film Project to life.

We're going to continue reaching out to potentially interested pledgees to see if we can continue the great momentum we've got going through the end of our Kickstarter campaign on Thursday at 3:06 pm, Eastern Time.  If you'd like to join us in continuing to let anyone you know who may be interested about our work, we'd really appreciate it!  The link to our new Kickstarter page is here.

We'll leave you with a few stills from our India and Paraguay shoots (with special thanks to Director of Photography Steve Hiller for making these available).  

Thanks so much again for your help in bringing these important stories to the world!  We love you all, and we'll keep working hard to make you proud!

Warmest Regards,

Rachel and The Microlending Film Project Team

Hey Friends!

Thanks so much for your support of The Microlending Film Project as we're in our final stages!  We're so close to being finished we can taste it, and with your help we'll be able to get this film completed.

We wanted to share a recent article about the project in The Huffington Post; thanks to Allison Baum and Elizabeth Nicholas for making this happen.

Please share our new Kickstarter page with your friends/family/anyone you can think of who may have interest in our project.  We only have 24 days to go before time runs out.

Again, if we fall short of 100% of our goal, we get $0, so every little bit truly helps.

Thanks again - you make the world better.

Rachel and The Microlending Film Project Team

Hi Friends!

Thanks again for your amazing support of The Microlending Film Project.

It's been awhile since we've updated you, so I wanted to check in and let you know about some of the exciting progress we've made.

Since the last update, thanks to your help, we've been able to film in India, Kenya, and Detroit, MI, chronicling the impact of microloans on women on what's turned out to be a truly global scale.

We've seen many inspiring stories, and can't wait to share them with the world.

We're now back in New York, working had to finish editing the film to submit to festivals.  We hired an editor, Dmitriy Khavin, who has cut several films for Oscar-nominated documentarian Jon Alpert.  Dmitriy has been editing for about 7 weeks and is doing an awesome job.

So we're on the home stretch, but we need your help to finish!

Check out the video on our new Kickstarter page here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1854708768/microlending-film-project-saving-the-worlds-women?ref=live

If you like how things are shaping up, please consider making a contribution. Tweets, likes, and shares are also hugely appreciated.  We're very close to being finished, and we're so grateful for your help all along the way.

Thanks again - you make the world better!

Warmly,

Rachel and The Microlending Film Project Team

Hi Friends!

Our demo will be screening Sunday at 8 p.m. at the 'Sunday Screenings' event at Gizzi's Cafe in Greenwich Village, at 16 W. 8th St., near the 5th Avenue intersection. We'd love to see some of our NYC-area supporters at the screening. The demo features original music scored by NYC-area musician Matty Bernstein, who some of you may also know and love.

Plus, it's free. Yowza!

We're now only $653 away from our match goal at http://bit.ly/guuNHQ; so if you or anyone you know may be interested in pledging, we'd be extremely grateful. No cards are actually charged unless we make 100% of our goal by January 28th. Thanks!

Rachel

Hi Friends!

We wanted to share the exciting news that GRITtv's 'GotDocs' segment will be airing footage from The Microlending Film Project TODAY, Friday, January 7th, at 8 p.m. ET. GRITtv can be seen nationwide on Free Speech TV, which is carried on Dish Network and DirecTV. Click on this link to find the appropriate channel for your regional area:
http://www.grittv.org/about/watch-grittv/

It will reair on Saturday, and it can also be watched online via the GRITtv website.

In celebration of this, a generous anonymous donor has offered to match all pledges via the Kickstarter website (http://bit.ly/guuNHQ) up to $2700, through Saturday at midnight.

If you happen to know anyone who may have been considering pledging and hasn't already, we humbly ask that they be reached out to, so that every dollar given will be doubled.

We'd also of course love it if as many people as possible would watch the segment, so please do tell your friends. :)

Thanks!
Rachel and The Microlending Film Project Team

Hi Everyone -

Exciting news for the film, and for me personally today, as two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Nick Kristof agreed to schedule an on-camera interview for the documentary. I'm especially excited about this because it was an article that Mr. Kristof himself wrote that inspired me to launch this project in the first place, almost a year and a half ago.

If you're interested and haven't already read it, here's the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/magazine/23Women-t.html

Thanks to all of you again for your support! We truly couldn't have come this far without you. If you're interested in continuing to support us, you can do so here: http://bit.ly/guuNHQ

Have a wonderful week, and thanks again!
Rachel

Hi All!

I owe you several updates, and apologize for not having way more, but rest assured that we're working hard and will get any rewards we still owe out to you as quickly as we can - which will take a bit for things like the DVD of the final film, but don't want anyone to think we've forgotten you.

Things are moving along! I went on a self-financed scouting trip to Bangladesh in October, and we're planning logistics and trying to raise the last few grand we need to get that shoot underway in late January.

We're also finishing up the cut of our Paraguay demo after several attempts, and I'm much happier with our current version. To compose an original score for this, we've brought on NYC-based musician Matty Bernstein, who has produced for the Grammy-nominated band Shiny Toy Guns, and we're excited to have him. Here's his website: http://www.mattybsound.com/. This is his band: http://www.thewind-up.com/

That said, the reason for making the demo is so that we can show it to you! And we have a few events in the coming weeks planned just for that. Details, details:

SEATTLE
WHERE: Vermillion Art Gallery and Wine Bar, 1508 11th Ave, Seattle
WHEN: Sunday, December 12, from 6-9
Suggested donation of $15 at the door, and a portion of all drink proceeds will go to support the film. We will be raffling off free pizzas from Tutta Bella for everyone who donates at the door.

WHERE: Canyons Restaurant, 15740 Redmond Way, Redmond WA 98052
WHEN: Monday, December 13th, 5 p.m. on
Bring our flyer and 20% of your dinner order will go to support our film - we'll have flyers there for you at the door, as well as some available at the Vermillion event.

CHICAGO
WHERE: 608 Sumac, Highland Park (right off the Metra)
WHEN: Wednesday, December 15th, starting at 6 p.m.
Julie Savitt has generously offered up her home to host this event, which will include a silent auction with donations from local vendors, and some hangin' out.

WHERE: Olive or Twist Martini Bar, 6906 Windsor Avenue, Berwyn (also right off the Metra)
WHEN: Thursday, December 16th, 7 - whenever
My good friend Chicago-based painter Kim Leutwyler (www.kimleutwyler.com) will be auctioning off her paintings at our event, and we will also have a Martini Kit valued at $200 up for auction. Suggested $10 donation at the door, and $1 from all drink orders will go to the film.

CANTON
WHERE: Tozzi's on 12th, in North Canton
WHEN: Sunday, December 21st starting at 6. Screening at 6:30.
For $15 there's an all-you-can-eat buffet, so come and go crazy.

More soon! We'll also be having events in New York, CT, and Durham, NC.

Call me at 919.475.1741 if you have any questions!

I leave you with this low-res still from the mini-DV footage I shot in Bangladesh. I am just now realizing that the kind of somberness of this photo doesn't really jive with my overall tone. This lady, however, was really amazing.

We love you all,
Rachel

Hi All!

I wanted to post a quick update to let you know about some of the exciting progress we've made in the past five weeks or so, since the conclusion of the Kickstarter drive.

Because of your help and support, I was able to hire an editor and story editor to cut a 20-25 minute demo from the Paraguay footage. The demo will screen in Chicago in September at Kartemquin, the production company that made 'Hoop Dreams.' We're really excited to receive their feedback, and also anticipate being able to use the demo for grant applications and as a further fundraising tool.

Our demo editor, John C.P. Goheen, directed and edited the feature documentary 'Lady Warriors,' which aired on HBO for a year and garnered dozens of festival selections and awards. John has been the recipient of 12 Emmys. Our demo story editor, Pat Woodard, has worked with John in the past, and has story edited a documentary about microlending in Honduras that aired for some time on PBS a few years ago. He also has 12 Emmys of his own. I'm extremely excited that such a talented editing team is collaborating with us in this phase of the project.

To round out the demo team, we also have Meg Hryndza, Paul Smith, and Sari Villagomez putting in a lot of volunteer hours logging the footage and translating it, and I'm so thankful to them for their willingness to help.

We're also figuring out the logistics involving our upcoming shoots in Bangladesh and Kenya, but more on that in a later post.

Lastly, we're working on getting out as many Kickstarter rewards as we're able to right now, but many will have to wait until the conclusion of filming - the DVD, for one, of course. Thanks so much for your support, and for your patience! We're going to do you all proud. Promise.

-Rachel

Hi Friends!

We wanted to get one last message out about the conclusion of our pledge drive on Kickstarter, which will happen today at 12 p.m. Central Time. If you know of anyone else who may have been thinking of pledging and hasn't done so already, now's the time to help out our project before the fundraiser ends. Every dollar donated will be matched, so even the smallest donation will make a real impact.

Thank you SO much for your support! It's been nearly 3 months since we began this pledge, and it's going to end a monumental success because of the kindness of people like you!

Cheers,
Rachel, Lou, Stef, Steve and Dom

More stills from our Camera A footage while on the ground. Many of these were shot when we were filming with Pablina's family in Itá, and also in and around the Paraguayan capital city of Asunción. We also spent some time at the farm of a wealthier microborrower named Liliana, who had joined her comite de mujeres more out of a desire for companionship than out of any kind of financial need. Some of the shots of the rows of vegetables you'll see here were taken at Liliana's brother-in-law's farm. Liliana herself is pictured here as well.

We're all home, safe and sound after the Paraguay leg of shooting. We ran into a few hitches, not the least of which was Dom's allergic reaction hours before we were scheduled to board our plane home. But luckily, he took some crazy Paraguayan antihistamines and made it through okay. We all got eaten up by mosquitos (but no malaria or dengue fever), and spent long days filming in the hot sun (thanks to everyone in the crew for being so cool during what were often pretty trying circumstances), and got to know a really wonderful family after spending a couple weeks with them. Our translator and guide, Ruben, was the glue for us - without his help, we wouldn't have lasted a day; he truly went above and beyond the call of duty.

The matriarch of the family we spent time with, Pablina Portillo, was a leader both within and outside of the family structure - she is the president of her comite de mujeres, a group of female microborrowers who meet regularly to discuss strategies for managing and repaying their microloans - and her children were happy, healthy, and hard-working. Her microbusiness is selling cakes and juice made from sugar cane from a stand set up on the road outside her home.

Steve, Dom and Lou were an insanely great crew - they worked for no pay, shooting everyday for two weeks without a day off, and the days were sometimes 12 hours or more. I couldn't have asked for a better team.

We managed to stay just under budget for this trip, but we've almost exhausted our funds, and still need your help to make this a comprehensive global project. Only 24 more days to make our Kickstarter goal; remember, if we come up even $1 short, we don't get any of the money pledged thus far, so please tell anyone you know who may be interested in donating about our film!

Thanks to all!

From the last few days of our shoot. Nine days of filming completed, and we'll be shooting at Pablina's this evening. Still having some technical difficulties on my end in regard to uploading/having a reliable internet connection, but doing the best we can from here. Lou and Dom also put together a short while we were filming Antonia at the store where she works yesterday morning, and we'll be adding that as soon as we can.

Enjoy!

Having some technical difficulties (USB problems, every outlet in the room where I'm staying isn't working, which seems weird), but have a couple pictures to post from the past few days of filming. I'll post an amazing update chock full of stills as soon as I negotiate my weird outlet problem.

Anyway, here's Antonia on a motorbike driven by her brother Cecilio, headed to the bus stop in town. She then boards the bus shown here to take the 5 hour trip from Ita to Cerrito, where her school is located.

More to come!