Friday, March 21 / 9:30 pm / Ottawa Art Gallery

Program: On a Sunday at Eleven, Village Keeper, Q&A with Karen Chapman
Guest: Karen Chapman, director and writer of Village Keeper

This program is presented in partnership with the Canada Media Fund.

Feature presentation \

Writer-director Karen Chapman’s debut feature drama is an intense, deeply moving story of one woman’s struggle to overcome a traumatic past and an uncertain present to create a hopeful future. Single mother Jean (an astonishing performance by Olunike Adeliyi) lives with her two teenage children, Tamika and Tristin, and her elderly mother in an overcrowded apartment complex in a troubled Toronto neighbourhood. As she works to keep the family afloat and worries about her children making bad decisions, Jean must confront her own turbulent past, haunted by violence and loss. Deftly alternating between past and present, Chapman weaves a powerful tale of a remarkable woman who, despite everything, just might overcome the many obstacles life has placed in front of her. At once tough-minded and profoundly hopeful, Village Keeper is an inspiring film in the truest sense, and Karen Chapman is a promising, very talented young filmmaker.

- Tom McSorley

Short film \

On a Sunday at Eleven

2024 / 9 minutes / Ontario
Director: Alicia K. Harris
Language: English

Facing the pressures to conform to Eurocentric beauty standards, a young Black ballerina finds a powerful source of pride and confidence, in Alicia K. Harris' inspiring and visually stunning short.

This program is presented in partnership with the Canada Media Fund.