Karen Chapman

Hot Docs will commemorate Canada's 150th anniversary of Confederation with the commissioning of In the Name of All Canadians, a compilation of six short documentaries inspired by Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. From Indigenous rights to multiculturalism to the controversial ‘notwithstanding clause,’ participating filmmakers have each selected a specific aspect of the Charter to explore, looking at how it resonates in the stories of their fellow Canadians.

A nine-year-old boy gets suspended from school and embarks on a journey through the streets of Toronto — before returning home to face his mother.

Jean is the provider and (over)protector of her two teen children, Tamika and Tristin, and begrudgingly lives with her mother in a crowded Lawrence Heights apartment complex. Despite the kids learning to become more self-sufficient, Jean’s vision is too clouded by the past to see that they're growing. She is haunted by violence in both their past and their present, and must help her children cope. Expertly using sound and flashbacks to construct a layered and full portrait of this woman's life, Chapman reveals the trials and tribulations that women in Jean’s family carry with them.

Walk Good is an unflinching documentary about a mother who lost all three of her children in three separate and unrelated acts of gun violence.

This thoughtful, eye-opening documentary by Toronto’s Karen Chapman asks whether a community plagued by gun violence can find a way forward via an unexpected solution: mindfulness and meditation.