Taking Care • In Development

Short Documentary

Taking Care follows the lives of three immigrant domestic care workers who look after newborns and young children in New York City. Observing their daily lives and work, each woman’s relationships, sacrifices, and capacities for care are swaddled in an ensemble portrait of the complexity and beauty of caring for another’s child.

Synopsis

The nanny is “part of the family.” She is cemented in the memory of your home, yet her home is elsewhere. Perhaps it's around the corner. Perhaps its countries away. She is present enough to safeguard, shape, and help raise a young child, but transient enough to disappear when parents are off the clock. The importance of her responsibility is undeniable: women caretakers not only guide and teach children, but they ensure the success of generations of parents.

Against the backdrop of New York City, whose notorious urban fabric is dependent on a robust network of caretakers, this intimate and observational short documentary will weave together the stories, sentiments, and insights from a handful of nannies. Taking Care will weave together a collection of meditative and fragmented personal vignettes, shifting perspectives between the film’s central nannies.

Director / Victoria Barbarito

Executive Producer / Julieta Lozano

Associate Producer / Elle Rinaldi

Writing Consultant and Researcher / Julia Kopstein

On-Set Translator / Jasmín Duran