Martha & Ethel

In this highly personal documentary, filmmakers Jyll Johnstone and Barbara Ettinger revisit the nannies who raised them. Johnstone contrasts her nanny, the no-nonsense German Martha, with Ethel, Ettinger’s warm, beloved African-American guardian, examining the now elderly nannies and their impact on the filmmakers’ lives. Looking back with fondness — and sometimes with bitterness toward their busy, absent mothers — Johnstone and Ettinger tackle their subject with grace and sincerity.