| Village Keeper | |
| Director: | Karen Chapman |
| Screenplay: | Karen Chapman |
| Producer: | Enrique Miguel Baniqued Karen Chapman |
| Starring: | Oluniké Adeliyi Maxine Simpson Zahra Bentham Micah Mensah-Jatoe |
| Cinematography: | Jordan Oram |
| Editing: | Christopher Minns Xi Feng Jordan Hayles |
| Music: | Dalton Tennant |
| Studio: | Smallaxx Motion Pictures |
| Distributor: | Levelfilm |
| Runtime: | 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]
Chapman received a nomination for the DGC Award for Best Direction in a Feature Film.[4]