A Mother Apart

LAURIE TOWNSHEND | CANADA | 2024 | 89 MIN | ENGLISH FST

DocumentaryI+N x FMC / CMF SERIESI+N ConnexeMADE AU CANADA

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Synopsis

LGBTQ+ activist Staceyann Chin easily identifies as a mother, poet, writer, dissenter, and truth speaker—it is the label of “daughter” that causes her the most pause. Forced to become a sleuth, she attempts to pierce the veil of secrecy around her mother’s life and come to terms with her absence. After decades pursuing “the career of lesbianism,” Chin is now hot on the trail of her mother Hazel and a more anchored sense of self. Chin travels from Brooklyn to Montreal, where Hazel lived after abandoning Chin in search of a better life, then onwards to far-flung destinations: Germany, Jamaica. Chin talks to neighbours and loved ones, piecing together the puzzle as she goes. With every clue, she is forced to confront past traumas and test the limits of forgiveness, all while caring for her daughter, with whom she famously stages “Living Room Protests” on YouTube. Tapping into the ferocity of Chin’s slam poetry and using digital collage to convey Hazel’s floral allure, director Laurie Tonwshend paints a dual portrait of motherhood. She also practices Chin’s hard-won brand of radical kindness and compassion, finding the grace in failure.

Trailer

Filmmaker Bio

Laurie Townshend is a Toronto-based filmmaker, writer and educator. Raised by a Jamaican mother—the family’s eloquent griot—Laurie learned early on that before we shape stories, stories shape us. Her films centre on the human capacity to transform small acts of courage into quiet revolutions. Laurie's upcoming feature documentary, A Mother Apart (2024), explores identity, motherhood, and forgiveness through the journey of Jamaican-American poet and LGBTQ+ activist Staceyann Chin.

Producer

Alison Duke, Ngardy Conteh George, Justine Pimlott

Writer

Laurie Townshend, Alison Duke

Cinematographer

Marinal Desai, Ashley Iris Gill, Gabriela Osio Vanden

Cast

Staceyann Chin

PARTNERS

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