About Traces of the Trade: A Story of the Deep North
Filming of Traces of the Trade
(Jude Ray's contributions to the film)
Jude Ray on Traces of the Trade
(Quotes and retrospect from Jude Ray)
In “Traces of the Trade,” first–time Producer/Director Katrina Browne tells the story of her forefathers, the largest slave-trading family in
Depending on your view of the universe, it is probably safe to say that it was no coincidence that Jude was presented with an opportunity to collaborate on “Traces of the Trade,” a film steeped in traumatic history and family revelation. The daughter of Holocaust survivors, Jude had long accepted as her calling the responsibility to confront and illuminate the dark social and cultural issues that lie beneath our collective consciousness.
Jude joined the project as executive producer and ultimately co-director. What began as Katrina’s desire to investigate and tell the story of her ancestors’ involvement in the slave trade and her reactions to that evolved into one family’s very public journey into its own dark past.
Helping to tell this story affected Jude deeply as a filmmaker and has inspired her to continue her exploration into our perceptions of race and culture in this country.