VILLAGE KEEPER (TIFF 2024)

A Canadian Screen Award winner (including Best First Feature, 2025), Village Keeper is a powerful testament to the strength of Black motherhood and a stirring love letter to the Black women who serve as the bedrock of their communities. Jean, a widow haunted by grief and determined to protect her children, finds herself at a breaking point. When a therapist gently asks, “How will you help your children without having helped yourself first?” she begins a path toward healing. The latest jewel of Black Canadian cinema, Village Keeper is a beautifully crafted, sensitive, and unforgettable story of resilience, sacrifice, and emotional truth.

Canada, 2024, 82 mins, drama in English, Karen Chapman, dir. 

“Village Keeper is a film that goes beyond trauma into the story of recovery and connection to joy, setting a new standard in storytelling. Writer-director Karen Chapman has taken a well-worn single mother story to a new level of relevance that is, in a word, outstanding." ~ Jeanine T. Abraham, Medium.com

“Karen Chapman’s tender and empathetic Village Keeper... her love for the people in front of her camera evident in every frame.”
— Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com

“A heartfelt portrait of a family in Toronto’s underprivileged Thorncliff community deals with generational trauma and the insidiousness of grief.”
— Collider

“Village Keeper isn’t a film about Black trauma; it’s a celebration of and journey towards Black healing.”
— Kevin Bourne, SHIFTER Magazine 

“What happens when the caretaker needs the most care? Village Keeper was one of our highlights... and it did not disappoint.”
— Stacey Yvonne, Black Girl Nerds

“Chapman’s ability to balance the delicate tightrope of emotions the film walks is aided by the sensational performance by Olunike Adeliyi.”
— Courtney Small, Cinema Axis

SCREENINGS