What prevents poor people from getting ahead? Banks refuse to give credit without collateral. Where commercial banks see insolvency, Nobel Prize–winning economist Muhammad Yunus sees opportunity. His groundbreaking Grameen Bank was built on the radical notion that if you loan poor women money within the context of peer support, not only will they repay and sustain the bank, but they’ll elevate their communities in the process. With millions of microloans to rural entrepreneurs in developing countries, Grameen is now audaciously importing its methods to the bastion of first-world capitalism: the U.S.A. First stop: Queens, New York. With an intimate camera capturing both buoyant and despairing moments, To Catch a Dollar chronicles the evolution of the tiny new branch. Will the solidarity principles translate to a diverse group of inner-city women? As the banking industry collapses, will these intrepid social-justice financiers succeed? One thing’s clear: we need new models to ensure prosperity for all. —Sundance Film Festival
Professor
Muhammad Yunus' never wanted to be a banker and he certainly never imagined
winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Yet his quest to help the working poor invest in
themselves led to both. Known as the father of microcredit loans in Bangladesh,
Yunus spent years developing the Grameen Bank, and in 1983 it became a fully
licensed bank with a twist—it was owned by its borrowers—mainly poor women.
Yunus is famous for saying that in developing Grameen he deliberately did the
opposite of what a conventional bank would do. Today, the success of Grameen
Bank has changed the lives of 7.5 million Bangladeshi borrowers and their
families. Grameen is now in 38 countries and has made over 100 million
microcredit loans.
But why stop at Bangladesh and poor nations? As the global financial industry
struggles with plummeting markets and job loses, Yunus holds steady with his
latest banking initiative in New York. Under intense scrutiny from international
press and academics, Grameen America opened for business in a nondescript office
building in Jackson Heights, Queens in late 2007. As the U.S. credit market
crumbled and the giant banks of Wall Street faltered one by one, Grameen put 500
potential women borrowers into groups of five, with loans of up to $3,000
dispersed for small business ideas each group of five had developed. Following
the Bangladeshi model, each group became its own loan committee, with the women
making weekly payments and contributions to a mandatory savings account as they
built their income generating activity.
In one year, the Jackson Heights branch of Grameen America grew to loan over
$1.5 million to 550 women. Just twelve months after opening, they’ve added two
more branches in Brooklyn and Manhattan, with the plan to opening other US
cities in the coming years. TO CATCH A DOLLAR follows the journey of two of
these women borrowers and the changes their lives undergo over the course of a
year. Working with borrowed money for the first time, they begin to realize
their own potential and the power that comes with it.
This is the inspiring, logic-defying yet true story of one man’s idea, a strange
new kind of bank, and the millions of lives it changed.
What inspired you to make TCAD?
My first film ten years ago, SIXTEEN DECISIONS, also focused on Grameen Bank and
Muhammad Yunus. Over the years, I have developed a relationship with Dr. Yunus
and had the opportunity to see the impact of his work on people at every level
and every position in life. Even after his 2006 Nobel Prize many people still do
not know of his inspiring work. This film is an opportunity to amplify his story
and that of women in Queens NY to initiate discussions and community action.
What is Microcredit?
Microcredit provides small loans to low-income individuals for income generating
activities. For example, a borrower might use a loan to invest in equipment for
a food-cart, purchase a sewing machine for a tailoring business, or start a
home-based day-care business. Grameen uses a group lending model that requires
prospective borrowers to form or join a group of five members, who meet weekly.
These groups are organized into “centers”, with 3 to 6 groups to a center.
Centers meet weekly usually in a borrowers’ home. The group and center model
encourages a culture of financial responsibility where peer-support leads to 99%
rate of repayment. The group also serves as a social network of voluntary mutual
support, as members are individually responsible for their own loans, they are
expected to voluntarily provide assistance to their peers where needed.
What were some of the challenges and obstacles in making this film, and how did
you overcome them?
Gaining and maintaining access and trust with subjects is always a primary
obstacle. Yunus is personally humble and modest and doesn’t like attention, but
recognized the power of film to showcase the effectiveness of his efforts and
ideas. While there was a line of filmmakers with better bios and funding, we had
that history and trust. His schedule was another obstacle—we shot for 2 ½ years
and travelled to almost 20 different countries—which required gaining access and
trust with bankers and leaders around the world who didn’t want the pesky
documentarian shooting their public and private meetings and events. It was very
hard, but we eventually did what we needed to do and got what we needed, and
everyone came around again.
How did your vision for the film change over the course of production?
Originally, this was going to be two films, one about Yunus and his work after
winning the Nobel Prize and another following the women, as they became the
first entrepreneurs to receive micro-credit from Grameen in the U.S. After the
economic meltdown, the two storylines converged. We shot 400 hours of Yunus, 100
hours in Queens and took a year and a half following the women. We had the honor
of being a part of the Sundance Documentary Lab, and that process and feedback
changed the film a lot. We had many fun scenes in the film, an upbeat score, but
the film focused too much on Yunus and his success. It became very clear that
the women in Queens were the real story, which made my long-time collaborator
and editor Keiko happy, too, as it brought the film back to the struggle and
possibilities that have been a trademark of all our films together. The
documentary became much deeper, complex, and compelling. Similarly, the
intellectual aspects of Yunus model are complemented by the women’s emotionally
rich stories.
The Lab provided our own trailer, assistant, and editing suite. To work with
such intense, peer focused effort, not worried about anything but the creative
process was instrumental in finding the backbone of the film. I was down for it
and Keiko was up to it and we re-cut the entire film in three days.
As you've screened the film how have audiences reacted to it?
We screened it intensely in the edit room for months. We would screen it on
Thursday, clean it up on Friday and by Monday at noon and we would screen it
again. This brought us back to a big challenge, one of our characters,
Elizabeth, kept changing her hairstyle and it would be difficult for audiences
to follow her storyline. We had to inject a creative element to make the hair
changes part of the story. One of the happiest surprises was that everyone
wanted to know more about micro-credit and how to get involved. We feel like the
film gives just enough to so that people can talk about the film with anyone,
but will seek out more information and want to engage in the efforts in some
way. Everyone involved with the film including Dr. Yunus converged in New York
at IFP at the Good Pitch and we found time after that to have a private
screening with the inside crew. I thought that it was 99% done, but the next two
months were the hardest work of all. We kept pushing a little harder, further,
making it a little edgier to capture the drama. We’re very happy with our final
product.
What impact/result do you hope the film accomplishes?
I really hope that this film helps obliterate prejudices against poor people. So
many people believe there is no excuse to not make money and it is not that
simple. To think poorly of kids from families who don’t have money or
opportunities is so unjust. We think this film will really showcase the power
and effectiveness of investing in the poor and creating entrepreneurs.
What kind of audience engagement/action campaign do you plan for the film?
We are developing a comprehensive outreach campaign designed to expand
investment in micro-credit in the US and beyond. We are working with major
multi-nationals and national organizations to have audiences and action
campaigns in place when we launch the film.
How did you get started in documentary filmmaking?
I’ve always been attracted to true stories that explored people trying to
rebuild their lives. All of my films follow this arc, and have given me a much
deeper self-understanding and connectedness with the world. I will always make
very personal films about people who are bucking expectations, defying
pre-established roles and rising above barriers. Each one of my documentaries is
an inspiration to me personally and I hope to audiences.
What docs or docmakers have served as inspirations for you?
Different ones in different ways. Michael Moore because he is fearless. I don’t
like his tactics, but he gets things noticed—and that is so important. I admire
everything that Charles Guggenheim did. I love almost all documentarians and
have implicit understanding, admiration and respect for small stories that
people work so hard to make so that audiences can share them.
Do you have other projects you are working on?
I am working on maximizing the impact this documentary, but have a few projects
in incubation. One is in Cuba. Dr. Yunus has challenged me to do a film on
social business, which will be so much bigger. I’m also working on a screenplay
that captures some of the dangerous high jinks during the making Anonymously
Yours.