Through the Night, a documentary by filmmaker Loira Limbal, an Afro-Dominican filmmaker and DJ, is a documentary that shares the story of a 24 hour child care center in New Rochelle, NY, Dee’s Tots.  The documentary sheds light on what providers and parents go through as navigate caregiving in our society. 

To make ends meet, people in the U.S. are working longer hours across multiple jobs. This modern reality of non-stop work has resulted in an unexpected phenomenon: the flourishing of 24-hour daycare centers. Through the Night is a verité documentary that explores the personal cost of our modern economy through the stories of two working mothers and a child care provider - whose lives intersect at a 24-hour daycare. 

In the film, you will learn not only from Deloris and Patrick Hogan, affectionately called Nunu and Pop Pop, who have been child care providers for over 20 years. It also shows us a glimpse of the lives of working parents who have to rely on their 24 hour caregiving home based care, since they work non-traditional schedules, often in essential jobs. 

The images of these working parents who are often exhausted, working two and three jobs just to make ends meet, are powerful. Through the Night is a poignant exposé on the ills that many working families in our country face today.

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What makes Through the Night so powerful is the storytelling. 

We see the relationships. 

We see the trust between caregivers and parents. (and if you’ve ever had to pick a caregiver, or lost a caregiver, you know that trust is of utmost importance!) 

We can see the humanity of Deloris and Patrick (affectionately called Nunu and Pop Pop), which is often not even discussed when we talk about child care. 

We see how caregiving is not only transactional. 

We see how caregivers are an integral part of the lives of the children they care for. 

We see Nunu and Patrick provide not only child care, but emotional and holistic support to the parents they work with. 

We see the love. 

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We see how when we talk about child care and the child care crisis, it isn’t only about the child care crisis: it’s a crisis that is exposing all the things that are wrong with our system (and that we work for at MomsRising!): that child care doesn’t only live in a vacuum, but that we need to also talk about paid leave, living wages, paid sick time, access to health care, access to after school and other programming for children and so much more. 

Through the night is already receiving accolades, and was selected for world premiere at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival. The film’s virtual opening weekend is this weekend, December 11th. You can help increase the visibility of the child care crisis, and how working families are struggling, by supporting Through the Night’s release and this powerful storytelling here.