February 2, 2008

Sundance. Traces of the Trade.

Traces of the Trade "When filmmaker Katrina Browne discovered that her family, the De Wolfs of Philadelphia, was one of the country's largest importers of slaves for 200 years, she decided to make a film as a personal attempt to come to terms with her own hidden history," writes Rob Davis for Paste. She discovers that it's "hard to find an individual or institution who wasn't touched by the trade. Browne obviously has good intentions, but the film often feels like a group of white folk trying to assuage their own discomfort, and the journeyers frequently comes across as insultingly naive."

"Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North is a prime example of someone making a film with her heart in the right place, but with very little actual purpose," writes Eric D Snider at Cinematical. "It might as well be a home movie that you show only to relatives."

IndieWIRE interviews Browne.

"Browne's cousin Tom DeWolf is the author of Inheriting the Trade, his personal story of the family's journey." And POV talks with him.

Online viewing tip. At Zoom In Online, a "Meet the Artists" interview with Browne.



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Posted by dwhudson at February 2, 2008 11:15 AM

Comments

Katrina Brown thanks for the concern my grandfather was a slave and he told me many stories. which are to harsh to talk about .. But yur eforts are greatly appreciated. he is 99 on nov 27 2008 Nelson murdock and im Ray murdock in houston ,texas. I have no hate for white people but i do think that black peope shold have soe reparations. andre johnson made blacks give whites thier land back after the civil war. write back

Posted by: ray murdock at August 5, 2008 4:14 PM