A Mother Apart – Hot Docs 2024

An interesting character study.

by Sean Patrick Kelly,  SkonMovies.com.   3.5 / 5

LGBTQ poet Staceyann Chin has spent decades trying to reconcile the abandonment by her mother in . When Staceyann Chin was a 9-year-old in Jamaica, her mother Hazel for a new life in Montreal. Now a lesbian beat poet, Staceyann is still trying to cope with this abandonment while trying to be a mother to her 9-year-old daughter Zuri.

A Mother Apart Synopsis

A Mother Apart is a documentary by Laurie Townshend about Jamaican-American beat poet Staceyann Chin. Staceyann’s childhood abandonment by her mother is the subject of both her poetry and her solo show MotherStruck!. As a teenager, Staceyann would eventually track her mother to Cologne and attempt to develop a relationship with her younger sister Laura. However, even after the reunion, Staceyann’s relationship with her mother was tense, due to the latter not agreeing with Stacyann’s status as a lesbian.

My Thoughts on A Mother Apart

Staceyann Chin is part of a generation of Caribbean children nicknamed the barrel children, since their parents would move to new lives in North America and send back barrels full of supplies. A Mother Apart deals with the conundrum of Staceyann Chin trying to be a mother to her daughter, while also having unresolved issues about her mother. The result is an interesting character study.

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Premiering on CBC GEM March 7, 2025.