A Mother Apart
Screenings
How do you raise a child when your own mother abandoned you? In a remarkable story of healing and forgiveness, Jamaican American poet and LGBTQ+ activist Staceyann Chin, renowned for performances in Def Poetry Slam and hit solo shows like MotherStruck!, radically re-imagines the essential art of mothering. In seeking her elusive mother — a trail that leads to Brooklyn, Montreal, Cologne and, finally, Jamaica — Staceyann and her daughter forge a new sense of home.
Thank you to our screening partner: Brown Girls Doc Mafia
Directors Spotlight
Laurie Townshend
Director
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, as seen in the dramatic short The Railpath Hero (2013, TIFF Black Star Festival, starring Stephan James), the unscripted series Human Frequency Streetdocs (2014) and the award-winning short doc Charley (2016). A Mother Apart is Laurie’s first feature-length film.
- Runtime 89 minutes
- Country Canada
- Language English, German
- Director Laurie Townshend
- Cinematographer Mrinal Desai, Ashley Iris Gill, Gabriela Osio Vanden
- Producer Alison Duke, Ngardy Conteh George, Justine Pimlott
- Screenwriter Laurie Townshend, Alison Duke
- Composer Tom Third
- Editor Sonia Godding Togobo
- Executive Producer Chanda Chevannes, Alison Duke, Ngardy Conteh George, Anita Lee
- Premiere United States
