RESEARCHING LIFTING THE WEIGHT OF HISTORY

“The inspiration for this film began with a revelation,” said Katherine Browne, anthropologist, writer and producer of Lifting the Weight of History. “After interviewing several dozen female as well as male entrepreneurs, it hit me: women business owners in Martinique were not just approaching business differently from men—they were in fact contributing to a whole paradigm shift in the local culture of business.

“By acknowledging the troubled relations between workers and bosses, by investing themselves in the well-being of their employees and bringing an ethic of family to their workplace, women owners of business are helping local residents overcome a deep and serious wound of history. Once I realized what was happening, it became important to me to tell their story to a broader audience.”

Browne secured funding in 2001 from National Science Foundation to create the footage for this documentary. She recruited Emmy-winning filmmaker, Ginny Martin, and together they captured the stories of five representative women entrepreneurs and numerous local experts, all drawn from Browne’s research.