Screening times:
Thursday, May 1, 6:30 PM
Saturday, May 3, 6:00 PM
Karen Chapman | Canada | 2024 | 83m
with Oluniké Adeliyi, Maxine Simpson, Zahra Bentham, Micah Mensah-Jatoe
Jean is the mother of two teenagers living in a cramped, suburban Toronto apartment, along with her elderly mother. Jean and her family have relocated to this flat in the housing project where she grew up. Jean cleans homes for a living, always hoping that her hard work to raise and protect her loved ones will lead to a better life.
Village Keeper follows a family grappling with secrets. Jean lives in fear of everything that could go wrong, going to great lengths to shelter her children. When the remnants of violence come to her doorstep she secretly cleans an abandoned crime scene. This unknowingly leads her on a path that exposes generational chains of silence and self-discovery, and finally allows her to put herself first.
Village Keeper is a film about motherhood and survival, an understated drama with anchoring notes of social realism. It’s the debut feature from documentary filmmaker Karen Chapman, based on one of her own short films. It has been nominated for Best Motion Picture at the 2025 Canadian Screen Awards.
“The world we’re creating in Village Keeper has a particular kind of nuance and levity, despite being a journey through grief,” said Chapman. “We talk a lot about the things that we carry generationally and the things that we pass down generationally. Families never actually talk about issues that lie underneath the surface.”
“Few filmmakers have brought the Black Canadian experience to life as vividly and authentically as Chapman. Her characters confront the grim reality of poverty and violence, but the film never descends into trauma porn.” - Victor Stiff, That Shelf
“Olunike Adeliyi delivers an outstanding performance here, bringing Jean’s contradictions to life with a quiet intensity.” - Paul Emmanuel Nicola, The Movie Buff
“At its heart Village Keeper is about community, whether it’s getting to know the new one you’ve joined, maintaining the one you’re in, or creating a new one.” - Stacey Yvonne, Black Girl Nerds
Winner: Festival Grand Prize; Special Jury Award for Best Performance - Arizona International Film Festival 2025
Winner: Best Feature; Best Performance - Gender Equity in Media Festival (GEMFest) 2025
Tickets available soon!
