Second-generation Canadian Karen Chapman undergoes a cultural metamorphosis into a carnival masquerader at Toronto’s Caribana Parade.
On this colourful journey, she discovers her Afro and Indo-Caribbean heritage while asking, ‘Can you call a place home if you have never been there?’
Creative team
Writer/director/producer: Karen Chapman
Director’s statement
Karen Chapman says:
“The notion of home can be a very confusing question to a Canadian. A foreigner to my parents’ birthplace, Guyana, I began this journey in search of my cultural identity as a second-generation immigrant in Canada.
What I found was a rich understanding of home and a newfound appreciation of culture as a citizen of the world.
And although the official name has changed over the years, what I will forever call Caribana will continue to be a testament to cultural commitment beyond generations of immigration.”
About Karen Chapman
Karen Chapman is a storyteller whose work often draws upon her own life experience.
In her breakout film Beauty Lies, Chapman explores her feelings about natural hair as a black woman in a media-driven world, revealing layers of insecurities. The film premiered at the Vancouver Student Film Festival, winning the Knowledge Network’s BC Perspective Award.
Karen’s most recent film All ah We is a hybrid documentary which uses animation, food and Caribbean rhythm to examine the complications of her dual identity as a Guyanese-Canadian.
A recent media graduate from Emily Carr University, Karen continues to fuel her passion in creative.
