Canada is among the world’s most culturally and racially diverse countries. But what we see on the streets isn’t always reflected on screens. That’s why actor Tonya Williams has made it her mission to bring increased diversity to Canadian TV and film productions.
Her first step toward this goal was founding the Reelworld Film Festival in 2001. Initially, the objective of the festival was to showcase Black actors, writers, producers, and directors in Canada. It has since been expanded to include Indigenous, Asian, South Asian, Middle Eastern, and LatinX talent. Launched this summer, the newest feature of the Reelworld Film Festival is an online database called Access Reelworld that helps match racially diverse on-screen talent with writers, producers, and directors.
On this episode of Now & Next, Tonya Williams, the founder and executive director of the Reelworld Film Festival talks about the upcoming 20th anniversary of the festival, how she defines success for the various initiatives she is driving, and the important work that still needs to be done.
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