#InsideOut2024 Review: A Mother Apart

an interesting and poignant look at the complexities of motherhood

By John Corrado, The Joy of Movies The 2024 Inside Out 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival runs from May 24th to June 1st at TIFF Lightbox in Toronto, more information on tickets and showtimes can be found right here. The documentary A Mother Apart (which was one of the finalists for the Hot Docs Audience Award) offers a candid portrait … Read more

Hot Docs 2024 #6: Parental Leave

A Mother Apart (7/8) Director Laurie Townshend crafts a beautifully poetic examination of the mother/daughter relationship — and all the complexities, contrasts, and conflicting emotions that can arise therein.

by Vickie, movie pie™ A Mother Apart (7/8) Director Laurie Townshend crafts a beautifully poetic examination of the mother/daughter relationship — and all the complexities, contrasts, and conflicting emotions that can arise therein — with this doc chronicling Staceyann Chin’s journey to reconcile her troubled past with her mother. A poet, performer and activist, Chin was … Read more

Hot Docs highlights compelling documentary premieres…

Toronto filmmaker Laurie Townshend’s feature documentary accompanies powerhouse Jamaican-American poet and LGBTQ+ activist Staceyann Chin as she re-imagines the essential art of mothering.

by The Caribbean Camera Inc. The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is presenting a stellar selection of seven National Film Board of Canada (NFB) produced and co-produced documentaries, including two world premieres, from April 25 to May 5 in Toronto. Charles Officer Among them is the world premiere of A Mother Apart by Oya Media Group and the NFB … Read more

A Mother Apart Review: Bridging Emotional Distances

This extraordinary portrait of a woman haunted and scarred by abandonment turns into a tale of real strength and joy

by Susan Cole, Point of View Magazine A Mother Apart (Canada, 89 min.) Dir. Laurie Townshend Programme: Persister This extraordinary portrait of a woman haunted and scarred by abandonment turns into a tale of real strength and joy. That’s because as poet and activist Staceyann Chin searches for her mother, we experience the writer’s wondrous … Read more

A Mother Apart (2024) Hot Docs 2024

A MOTHER APART is a kick ass film.

by Steve Kopian,  Unseen Films Portrait of Jamaican-American artist, performer  poet and LGBTQ+ activist Staceyann Chin,who has been struggling with the notion of how to be a good mother. It’s a struggle that she has been wrestling with she was abandoned by her own mother decades before. While I know that this is a great … Read more

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 A Mother Apart. 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 … Read more

HOT DOCS 2024 REVIEW | A MOTHER APART

Staceyann and Hazel are fascinating documentary subjects to follow.

by Andrew Parker, The Gate A loving and progressively minded mother looks back on her fraught relationship to her own distant maternal figure in director Laurie Townshend’s enlightening, heartfelt, and empathetic A Mother Apart. Jamaican-American poet, activist, and playwright Staceyann Chin has spent a considerable amount of time reflecting on the role her absentee mother, Hazel, had … Read more

A Mother Apart – Podcasts, Radio & Other Media

NFB director of programming, distribution and marketing Anne-Claire Lefaivre speaks about NFB’s Hot Docs film roster: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/ohdio/premiere/emissions/dans-la-mosaique/episodes/753205/rattrapage-jeudi-25-avril-2024/8  Youtuber Carolyn Hinds interview with Director Laurie Townshend A Mother Apart – Interview with Filmmaker Laurie Townshend for Hot Doc 2024, Carolyn Talks Podcast Podcast: Hot Docs 2024 – Carolyn Talks ‘A Mother Apart’ with Filmmaker Laurie Townshend … Read more

HOT DOCS 2024: OUR REVIEW OF ‘A MOTHER APART’

Chin’s interviews [are] brimming with foresight in discussing a woman she knows despite their distance.

by Paolo Kagaoan  In The Seats    3 / 5 Many people, I assume, live many lifetimes in one, but that is especially true about poet and mother Staceyann Chin. As a university student in Kingston, Jamaica, she experienced intimidation that targets her as a 2SLGBT+ woman. After that harrowing experience, she moved to New … Read more

10 Documentaries To Catch at the 2024 Hot Docs Festival

Staceyann Chin wears many hats, from being a talented poet to a self-proclaimed activist.

ISABELLA SOARES, SHE DOES THE CITY A Mother Apart Staceyann Chin wears many hats, from being a talented poet to a self-proclaimed activist. Yet, a lot of her work is a product of her growing up with an absent mother. As she opens the letters she wrote to her mom as a child, Staceyann rehashes some … Read more

10 films we can’t wait to see at Hot Docs 2024

While her poetry is ferocious in its rawness and approach, it is her candour and vulnerability that keep you invested in the film's journey.

by Lucius Dechausay,  CBC Arts I first heard about this film in 2018, when filmmaker Laurie Townshend was developing the project for Toronto’s Oya Media Group. At the time, she was following the lives of four women whose activism informed their approach to motherhood. These were mothers on the front lines of radical change who deeply understood the … Read more

Hot Docs to feature evocative new works by Toronto directors, two world premieres and a tribute to Charles Officer. Seven powerful and personal NFB documentaries showcased at Hot Docs 2024.

Toronto filmmaker Laurie Townshend’s feature documentary accompanies powerhouse Jamaican-American poet and LGBTQ+ activist Staceyann Chin as she re-imagines the essential art of mothering.

From: National Film Board News release The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is presenting a stellar selection of seven National Film Board of Canada (NFB) produced and co-produced documentaries, including two world premieres, from April 25 to May 5 in Toronto. World premieres A Mother Apart (Oya Media Group/NFB) Toronto filmmaker Laurie Townshend’s feature … Read more

Hot Docs unveils full lineup for 31st edition

Debuting in the Persister program is A Mother Apart from director Laurie Townshend. The film is produced by Oya Media Group’s Alison Duke and Ngardy Conteh George and the National Film Board of Canada’s Justine Pimlott. It follows a woman who has been searching for the mother who abandoned her while being a single mother herself.

By Kelly Townsend The lineup includes several Canadian world premieres, including the NFB’s A Mother Apart and Canada-France copro A French Youth. “Debuting in the Persister program is A Mother Apart from director Laurie Townshend. The film is produced by Oya Media Group’s Alison Duke and Ngardy Conteh George and the National Film Board of … Read more

Premiering on CBC GEM March 7, 2025.