Catch To Catch a Dollar at Silverdocs Special Screening

Silverdocs Documentary Festival's year round screening series will present the East Coast Premiere of To Catch A Dollar: Muhammad Yunus Banks On America at the AFI Silver Theater in Silver Spring, MD on April 12 at 7 PM.

To Catch A Dollar: Muhammad Yunus Banks On America chronicles the growth and effect of Grameen America, a not-for-profit microfinance organization founded by Yunus, during its first year of operations in Queens, New York. The film focuses on entrepreneurial women borrowers who, availing themselves of opportunities offered by Grameen America, pursue individual paths from poverty to success as bakers, hair stylists and in other business careers.

Professor Yunus is recognized for successfully applying the concept of microcredit, the extension of small loans to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans, to change people's lives in his native Bangladesh. He and Grameen Bank (it means Village Bank) jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, and Professor Yunus was presented with a Presidential Medal of Honor in 2009.

With Grameen America, Yunus has replicated the microcredit model in the US. Since opening in January 2008, Grameen America has disbursed more than $4.3 million in loans to more than 2,000 borrowers and maintains a repayment rate of 99%. Additional branches are opening across the country, and Washington, DC is one of the ten cities slotted for a new branch.

Professor Yunus and the film's producer, Gayle Ferraro, will be present for a post-screening discussion. This is a great opportunity to see an inspiring documentary and meet its renowned and acclaimed subject -- all for the price of a $10 ticket. And, of course, whatever it costs you to get to Silver Spring, MD.

http://documentaries.about.com/b/2010/04/02/catch-to-catch-a-dollar-at-silverdocs-special-screening-april-13.htm