About this project
Hi, this is Gayle Ferraro, director of a documentary that follows Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Yunus as he brings his unique and revolutionary microfinance program to the U.S. In ‘To Catch a Dollar’ I followed the stories of some of the first women borrowers as Professor Yunus’s established his micro-loan program in the U.S., Grameen America.
The Film
The film follows Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Yunus as he brings his unique and revolutionary microfinance program to the US. We witness the birth of Grameen America and the compelling stories of the first women borrowers; from the challenges they face to the successes they achieve, as they learn to sustainably lift themselves and their families out of poverty by starting and growing their own businesses with the education, support, and non-collateral microloans they receive.
Why this Issue
I first learned about micro-finance when I shot my first film, Sixteen Decisions (2000), in Bangladesh and followed 16-year-old Selena. She was given over to child labor at 8 years old, married at 11 years old and soon thereafter found herself an illiterate mother of two who took a Grameen business microcredit loan to raise chickens and clean rice. By becoming a recipient of a Grameen Bank loan, the program/business/organization started by Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Selena not only was able to pull herself out of poverty through the loans, but as a bank member, her children were able to attend preschool for free.
In my career as a filmmaker I have seen many instances of microloans allowing women all over the world to get a leg up and support themselves and their families. I saw how these loans helped women in every different situation and wondered if it could work in the U.S. I decided to tell the inspiring story of Grameen America.
The Campaign
In order to spread the message and raise awareness about financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and how microfinance can help more Americans who are currently living below the poverty line, we need your help to bring the film to theaters, colleges and communities across the U.S. One of our goals is to have the film and campaign grow into a social action movement. But we have run out of resources and need your help.
FAQ
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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on September 19.
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Your name on our website, along with our gratitude and sincere thanks.
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Your name in a Thank You video read by Gayle on our website.
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A Grameen America savings book autographed by Professor Yunus.
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A DVD of the "To Catch a Dollar" documentary autographed by Gayle (once it's released)
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A boxed set of Gayle's 4 documentaries - To Catch a Dollar, 16 Decisions, Anonymously Yours, and The Ganges; River to Heaven, along with a personal thank you note.
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We will be having a screening of the documentary in NY or LA the week of September 23rd, and this will give you two tickets to the screening.
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Lunch with the documentary director, Gayle, in Boston or NYC.
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Two VIP tickets to a NY screening on Sept 23, 2011. Afterwards, you will meet with Gayle and Nobel Laureate Professor Yunus for coffee, a photo together, and a signed poster.
Project By
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I work to bring personal accounts of extraordinary and socially compelling stories to the film circuit. TO CATCH A DOLLAR: MUHAMMAD YUNUS BANKS ON AMERICA is my fourth independently produced and directed feature documentary, and a recipient of the prestigious Sundance Documentary Program/Skoll Foundation Stories of Change grant. My previous works include: GANGES: RIVER TO HEAVEN (2003) where with unparalleled intimacy the film explores dying in the holy city of Varanasi, India; ANONYMOUSLY YOURS (2002) shot clandestinely in Burma follows the harrowing world of sex-trafficking through the stories of four young women; and SIXTEEN DECISIONS (2000) an intimate look at one young woman’s challenges in rural Bangladesh to change her family’s life of extreme poverty. I received Masters Degrees in Public Administration from Harvard University and Mass Communication from Boston University, and studied International Human Rights Law at Oxford University. I own Gymnastic Academy of Boston/Cambridge, which funded her films through Aerial Productions.
