Reel World Film Festival 2008

April 2 to 6, 2008

Martin Luthur King had a dream. So did Tonya Lee Williams: it was the Reel World Film Festival - a film festival to promote films and film makers of cultural diversity. It was held this year in Toronto from April 2 to 6, 2008. This is the 8th year of the festival. The festival consists of industry series, films from countries across the world such as India, Australia, England, German, United States, China and Mexico, festival awards and the opening and closing gala parties.

The opening gala film was Spinning into Butter starring Beau Bridges, Sarah Jessica Parker & Mykelti Williamson! It was based on the critically acclaimed Broadway Play by Rebecca Gilman SPINNING INTO BUTTER which is a fascinating exposition of the psychoses surrounding race in American communities. Beau Bridges attended the opening night.

The 2008 Reel World Film Festival closed with the beautiful South Asian film Apna Asmaan (My Own Sky). The Director Kaushik Roy attended the VIP reception and gala screening with his wife - see photograph below. This film examined the plight of a family faced with the question of how far you should go to make your child a genius? On another level it examined the relative merits of intelligence and greatness vs. kindness and being a nice person. This film not to be missed!!

The 2008 ReelWorld Awards Ceremony took place on Sunday April 6th, 2008 at Manyata Cafe (Halelton Lanes) and the winners are!:

The Tonya Lee Williams Award for Outstanding Canadian Feature: "The Limits", Directed by Ben Mazzotta, Produced by Maria Kennedy and Drazen Baric
Outstanding Canadian Short Film: "Souvenirs from Asia" Directed by Joyce Wong, Produced by S. Brent Martin;.
Outstanding Canadian Documentary: "Midnight Ballads" Directed by Diego Briceno-Orduz, Produced by Yanick L'etourneau, presented by Anita Lee, National Film Board Producer
Star! ReelChoice Audience Award: "Ocean of Pearls" Directed by Sarab S. Neelam, Produced by Jim Burnstein, Jeff Dowd, Sarab S. Neelam, and Jaspal K. Neelam;
Outstanding Canadian Music Video: "Compton to Scarboro" by The Carps, Directed by Marc Ricciardelli.
Outstanding International Feature Film: "Namibia" Directed by Charles Burnett, Produced by Abius Akwaak, Steve Gukas, and Uazuva Kaumbi. "Namibia" is a film that examines the Namibian people's long struggle for independence with brutal honesty.
Outstanding International Short: "Pariah" Directed by Dee Rees, Produced by Nekisa Cooper.
Outstanding International Documentary: "Welcome To Nollywood", Directed by Jamie Meltzer, Produced by Cayce Lindner and Henry S. Rosenthal. "Welcome To Nollywood" takes place in the Nigerian Film Industry.
Tony Stoltz ReelWorld Visionary Award: Broadcaster, journalist, television program director and administrator, and a radio television and feature film producer Fil Fraser. The Tony Stoltz award recognizes organizations and individuals who pioneer to create opportunities for others, to open doors and to make change happen.
Award of Excellence: Director Charles Burnett has established himself as a strong voice in the American Cinema.
2008 ReelWorld Trailblazers. Presented by Actress, Producer and Founder of the ReelWorld Film Festival Tonya Lee Williams: Andre Beraud, TF1, Artistic Director of Fiction, KC Collins, Actor, Jani Lauzon, Freelance Artist, CO-Managing Artistic Director for Turtle Gals Performance Ensemble; CO-chair of ACTRA Toronto and ACTRA National Diversity Committees; Actor Lisa Mahal, National Communications Manager, Directors Guild of Canada; Austin Wong, Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs, Rhombus Media; Byron Wong, Media and TV Producer, E-commerce entrepreneur, Record Producer, Photographer, Film Composers.

With films from a wide diversity of cultures, Tonya's dream has come true - this festival is now a significant and important film festival and mark your calendar for next year! I know I will.

Beau Bridges & Tonya Lee Williams