The Living Consequences

Laura Flanders, who hosts “RadioNation” on Air America Radio, has a video interview with Katrina Browne, the producer/director of Traces of the Trade, at Fire Dog Lake this afternoon.

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With national broadcast beginning tomorrow, there are more reviews and articles about Traces of the Trade each day.

Television critic Joanne Ostrow, of the Denver Post, has a review being carried by newspapers across the country. Ostrow writes that this is “a stunning documentary … eye-opening and important,” which “ought to spark conversations on race” for at least as long as the nine years it took to make.

This morning, Newsblaze, which last week found the film “a remarkable documentary … brave and sobering … a labor of love,” runs another review which rates the film as “Excellent (4 stars).” The review, by Kam Williams, finds the documentary “an eye-opening caravan undertaken by some refreshingly honest Caucasians willing to take an unblinking look at their slave legacy and the devastation left in its wake.” The review further states that Traces of the Trade is “an emotional journey … a unique look at slavery from the perspective of Northern white beneficiaries.”

Lauren Wissot, the award-winning director and film critic, offers her assessment of the film, which she terms “overwhelming … powerful … poignant.” “The ten DeWolf descendants,” she writes, ”are a thoughtful, forthcoming, from the heart group—willing to doubt, to not have answers, to admit both fear and internalized racism.” Of Katrina’s deeply personal, idiosyncratic approach to the film, Wissot observes that “there’s something sweet and humble in this, in Browne’s constant commentary describing how unsure and awkward she feels.”

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This morning’s edition of the Boston Globe Magazine contains an interview with Katrina Browne, who directed and produced of Traces of the Trade (with co-directors Alla Kovgan and Jude Ray).

Katrina also has an essay this weekend at The Root, the online magazine devoted to race and to promoting black perspectives in the media, and there are additional reviews and previews of Traces of the Trade in a variety of newspapers.

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Tomorrow, Bill Moyers’ Journal will preview next week’s television premiere of Traces of the Trade on PBS, in a program to the legacy of slavery and the current socioeconomic landscape of race in the United States.

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We’ve seen a spate of reviews, articles, and blog posts discussing Traces of the Trade in recent days, motivated largely by upcoming screenings at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival and the forthcoming national broadcast premiere on PBS.

Stephen Holden of The New York Times calls the film a “far-reaching documentary” whose “implications … are devastating.” He also observes that “the old saying that ‘behind every great fortune there is a crime’ echoes silently throughout the movie, which extends that notion to implicate an entire society.”

The Hartford Advocate describes the film as a “well-researched, candid and intelligent exploration” of the role of the slave trade in our nation’s history. The reviewer also calls the documentary “gut-wrenching and intense” and “powerfully moving,” and concludes that this “glimpse into the still-raw wounds of slavery” is ”perhaps the best way to honor the professed democratic ideals of the founding fathers.”

Jessica Mosby, writing for the Women’s International Perspective, heaps praise on the film, calling it “powerful” and “incredibly well executed,” and its discussions “intense” and “very candid.” She goes on to argue that the documentary “starts an important and often uncomfortable dialogue about race,” and that “the film is truly a microcosm for the larger debate that Americans need to have about race and responsibility.”

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The Early Show on CBS is scheduled to air an interview with Tom DeWolf and Katrina Browne in the near future.

The interview, which has been pre-recorded with news anchor Russ Mitchell, focuses on Tom’s book, Inheriting the Trade, and on the upcoming documentary film Traces of the Trade, for which Katrina served as director/producer/writer, and in which Tom and I appear.

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We’ve just learned the scheduled broadcast dates for Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North in the Boston area:

• Thursday, June 26, 3:00am (WGBH-44)
• Sunday, June 29, 9:00pm (WGBH-44)
• Monday, June 30, 10:00pm (WGBH-2)

As I’ve mentioned previously, P.O.V. is debuting its 2008-2009 season with Traces of the Trade, with a suggested air date of June 24 at 10:00pm. Local stations are free to broadcast the film whenever they wish, however, and many markets are deviating significantly from that suggestion. It is also possible that these scheduled air dates in Boston might change prior to broadcast.

Update: For those who receive digital broadcasts in the Boston area, the film will also be shown on WGBX World (Channel 44.2) on Wednesday, June 25 at 7:30pm, and will be rebroadcast three times over the course of the next day.

Tom and Katrina’s scheduled appearance on CBS’s The Early Show to promote Inheriting the Trade and Traces of the Trade has been postponed.

They will definitely be appearing on the show, as they’re taping their interview this morning, immediately following the live broadcast. This is merely a rescheduling to accommodate other programming, and the producers hope to air the interview next week. I’ll post the new date as soon as we know it.

The Early Show on CBS is scheduled to air a live interview with Tom DeWolf and Katrina Browne on Tuesday, April 29.

The interview, to be conducted by news anchor Russ Mitchell, will focus on Tom’s book, Inheriting the Trade, and on the upcoming documentary film Traces of the Trade, for which Katrina served as director/producer/writer, and in which Tom and I appear.

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Traces of the Trade is featured this evening in a thoughtful article, “Slavers in the Family,” which serves as a cover story for tomorrow’s edition of the Philadelphia City Paper.

The article, by Sam Adams, carries the subhead, “How Philly native Katrina Browne confronted her ties to America’s original sin, and why the nation should follow her lead,” and features interviews with Katrina Browne and Tom DeWolf. This coverage is motivated by screenings of the documentary at the National Constitution Center on April 24; as the article explains, the screenings were originally to be held as part of the Philadelphia Film Festival, until a conflict arose with the Democratic debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

As I indicated, this is a particularly thoughtful article. Adams does review the film itself, describing it as “gripping” and “a fascinating and largely unknown story,” but he focuses on the family’s introspection about the legacy of the slave trade and delves into Katrina’s and Tom’s backgrounds and motivations as coverage of the film and book rarely do.

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