The Project
Capitalism and Charity: A Documentary on Microlending to Women Across the World will tell the story of Third World citizens who are mothers, wives - and entrepreneurs. Armed with microloan funding often donated in increments as small as $25, we will follow these women as they start and maintain their own businesses, and in doing so explore how microborrowing can help them not only improve their own standards of living and those of their families, but extend so far as to improve their home countries' GDP.
The stories we explore will be those of people like Graciela, a Paraguayan woman with four daughters who sells cardboard carton trays for hotdogs to vendors at a local market. She is able to purchase the materials she needs to run her business using microloan funding. Starting with a $40 loan, Graciela was able to improve her own life and that of her family, and her husband talked at length about how grateful he was for microlending, as it was helping his four daughters learn about the value of women, because they see the example their mother has set as an agent of change. Graciela and her husband also recently built a new home for their family using money they had made in their business, something that wouldn't have been possible without taking out a microloan. To view their new home, click here.
Through the lens of stories like these, Capitalism and Charity: A Documentary on Microlending to Women Across the World will look critically at the macroeconomic potential for microlending to women, focusing on how it may function as a combatant of global poverty . Interviews with leading experts in microfinance, interspersed with those from philanthropists at the forefront of the non-profit sector, will come together to paint a comprehensive picture of what microlending to women in Third World countries may accomplish.
Making a Difference
Our goal is to make a high definition documentary that will connect with audiences through film festivals and national broadcasts. Additionally, we aim to make available a companion educational curriculum to accompany the film for classroom screenings. We want to encourage students and adults alike to learn more about microlending to women and its effects in the developing world.
