Village Keeper
| Village Keeper | |
|---|---|
 Film Poster | |
| Directed by | Karen Chapman |
| Screenplay by | Karen Chapman |
| Produced by | Enrique Miguel Baniqued Karen Chapman |
| Starring | Oluniké Adeliyi Maxine Simpson Zahra Bentham Micah Mensah-Jatoe |
| Cinematography | Jordan Oram |
| Edited by | Christopher Minns Xi Feng Jordan Hayles |
| Music by | Dalton Tennant |
Production company | Smallaxx Motion Pictures |
| Distributed by | Levelfilm |
Release date |
|
Running time | 83 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
Village Keeper is a Canadian drama film directed by Karen Chapman, and released in 2024.[1] The film stars Oluniké Adeliyi as Jean, a Black Canadian widow living in the Lawrence Heights community of Toronto, where she tries to protect her children Tamika (Zahra Bentham) and Tristin (Micah Mensah-Jatoe) from neighbourhood violence.[2]
The cast also includes Maxine Simpson as Jean's mother, as well as Oyin Oladejo, d'bi.young anitafrika, Ethan Burnett, Shiloh O'Reilly, Noah Zulfikar, Ricardo Betancourt, L.A. Sweeney, Mark Sparks, Gordon Fulton, Zara McLean, Jael Obasi and Mekeylah Minott in supporting roles.
Chapman's feature directorial debut, it entered production in summer 2023, in Toronto.[2]
The film premiered in the Discovery program at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.[3]
Awards
[edit]| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Directors Guild of Canada | 2024 | Best Direction in a Feature Film | Karen Chapman | Nominated | [4] |
| Canadian Screen Awards | 2025 | Best Motion Picture | Enrique Miguel Baniqued, Karen Chapman | Nominated | [5] |
| Best Lead Performance in a Drama Film | Oluniké Adeliyi | Nominated | |||
| Best Supporting Performance in a Drama Film | Zahra Bentham | Nominated | |||
| Micah Mensah-Jatoe | Nominated | ||||
| Maxine Simpson | Nominated | ||||
| Best Original Screenplay | Karen Chapman | Nominated | |||
| John Dunning Best First Feature | Won |
References
[edit]- ^ Annemarie Cutruzzola, "TIFF Top 20: A Guide to Our Most Anticipated Films at the 2024 Festival". She Does the City, August 16, 2024.
- ^ a b Victoria Ahearn, "Karen Chapman embarks on feature directorial debut". Playback, June 26, 2023.
- ^ Kim Izzo, "Two Canadian features added to TIFF Discovery progamme". Playback, August 13, 2024.
- ^ Connie Thiessen, "Sweet Angel Baby leads DGC Awards’ film nominations". Broadcast Dialogue, September 20, 2024.
- ^ "2025 CANADIAN SCREEN AWARDS CBC/RADIO-CANADA NOMINATIONS BY PROGRAM". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, March 25, 2025.
External links
[edit] | This article related to a Canadian film of the 2020s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 2024 films
- 2024 drama films
- 2024 directorial debut films
- Canadian drama films
- 2020s English-language films
- Films shot in Toronto
- Films set in Toronto
- Black Canadian films
- English-language Canadian films
- 2020s Canadian films
- Best First Feature Genie and Canadian Screen Award–winning films
- 2020s Canadian film stubs