After kicking off the Seventh Annual Reel World Film Festival's Opening Night Gala, Frances Anne Solomon's A Winter Tale was praised by media as being "exactly what Toronto needs". Now, this film which touches on the timely issues of youth alienation, racism, drugs, and gun violence is being incorporated into an outreach program, which will connect with communities across Canada.

The outreach program was started in conjunction with Telefilm Canada, whose generous donation covered the start-up costs. The program will target three specific audiences: Black and Caribbean-Canadian communities in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Halifax and Vancouver, schools with prevalent racial discrimination, and the general Canadian public. Solomon's production company, CaribbeanTales, is still looking for additional funding to ensure that the program can meet its needs.

Through this program, CaribbeanTales aims to utilize A Winter Tale as a tool for community engagement with youth leadership and community organizations across Canada. It will work with school administrators, recognized youth leadership and community-based organizations, and church congregations to find suitable screening venues.

In addition to this, Solomon and her cast members will hold Q&A sessions to discuss the film, its storyline and the relevant issues of youth and violence it highlights. CaribbeanTales also has plans to develop relationships with local businesses and community organizations, in order to build the film's profile and attract the Canadian public.

Written, directed and produced by Frances-Anne Solomon, A Winter Tale tells the emotional story of a black men's support group that forms at the Caribbean Takeaway restaurant in Parkdale, after a ten-year-old boy is shot by a stray bullet. The film features a talented ensemble cast led by Canadian stars Peter Williams and Michael Miller, along with Caribbean icons Leonie Forbes and Denis "Sprangalang" Hall. A Winter Tale offers a brilliant perspective on the timely issues of gun violence in Toronto, set against the backdrop of a multicultural community's unrealized hopes and dreams.

A Winter Tale was developed over four years through a process of research and collaboration with an eclectic team of actors and creators who come from the multicultural realities of Canadian society. During the ReelWorld Film Festival, A Winter Tale took home the Tonya Lee Williams Award for Outstanding Canadian Feature and won Special Mention in the Outstanding Screenplay Category.

Frances-Anne Solomon is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, director and producer. She is the president and artistic director of the two companies she founded: Leda Serene Films and CaribbeanTales and has also worked as a film and television drama producer for the BBC.

Recent projects include A Winter Tale, a feature film for Telefilm Canada and CHUM Television; Literature Alive, a groundbreaking 20-part documentary series that screened on Bravo!, Canadian Learning Television and OMNI; and the Gemini-nominated Lord Have Mercy!, Canada's landmark multicultural sitcom, for Vision TV, Toronto 1, APTN and Showcase.

CaribbeanTales, a non-profit organization founded by Frances-Anne Solomon, is Canada's premier multimedia company, which produces educational films, videos, radio programs, audio books, theatre plays and Web sites that showcase the rich heritage of Caribbean culture.

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Available for interviews, Frances-Anne Solomon

For more information, visit www.ledaserene.ca,
www.awintertale.ca,
www.caribbeantales.ca,
www.literaturealiveonline.ca