Canadian Women Film Directors Database
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Village Keeper

Directed by Karen Chapman
Canada, 2024 (fiction, 83 minutes, colour, English)

Film Description:
"With her first dramatic feature, writer-director Karen Chapman creates an emotional and authentic study of a single mother trying to hold herself together. Jean is the provider and (over)protector of her two teen children, Tamika and Tristin, and begrudgingly lives with her mother in a crowded Lawrence Heights apartment complex. Despite the kids learning to become more self-sufficient, Jean's vision is too clouded by the past to see that they're growing. She is haunted by violence in both their past and their present, and must help her children cope. Expertly using sound and flashbacks to construct a layered and full portrait of this woman's life, Chapman reveals the trials and tribulations that women in Jean's family carry with them. Olunike Adeliyi—familiar to Festival audiences from Tammy's Always Dying (TIFF '19), Akilla's Escape (TIFF '20), and Backspot (TIFF '23)—gives a stand-out performance as Jean, bringing her formidable range to play a woman choosing to embrace joy for herself, first."
-- Kelly Boutsalis (source)

Film Credits (partial):
Written by: Karen Chapman
Produced by: Enrique Miguel Baniqued, Karen Chapman, Christina Piovesan, Floyd Kane, Jordan Oram, Susana Ferreira, Taj Critchlow, Molly McGlynn, Lora Campbell, d'bi.young anitafrika
Principal Cast: Olunike Adeliyi, Maxine Simpson, Zahra Bentham, Micah Mensah-Jatoe, Oyin Oladejo, d'bi.young anitafrika, Ethan Burnett, Shiloh O'Reilly
Cinematography: Jordan Oram
Film Editing: Christopher Minns, Xi Feng, Jordan Hayles
Music: Dalton Tennant
Production Company: Smallaxx Motion Pictures
(sources)

Award won by Village Keeper

Notes about Village Keeper

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