Tonya Lee Williams, best known for her starring role on The Young and The Restless, and as the Founder, of ReelWorld Film Festival, stars as Ruth Carvery in feature film POOR BOY’S GAME screening this Sept. 21 and 22 at the Calgary International Film Festival presented by American Express. Danny Glover stars as George Carvery, Ruth Carvery’s husband.  Also starring in the film is Rossif Sutherland as Donnie and K.C. Collins, an up-and-coming name to be reckoned with in Canada, who plays Ruth’s son, Charlie Carvery.

Williams delivers a heart wrenching performance as Ruth Carvery, a woman driven by revenge after the beating of her son left him permanently disabled.

“I couldn’t have been happier when Clement Virgo asked me to do the role of Ruth.  I had left Y&R the year before this shoot and was looking for a role that would define me outside of Olivia.  Ruth is as far from Olivia as anyone could get.  She’s a working domestic, living in a poor black neighbourhood of Halifax.  Her life has been hard, and she wears her years of misery on her.  I gained 15 lbs. for this role and the makeup department did a tremendous job aging me.”

“I’ve known Clement [the director] since the beginning of his career and I’m a big fan of his work.  Also, working with an actor of the calibre of Danny Glover really raised the bar for all the performances.”

“I had never been to Halifax before and had no idea of the segregation of the city.  As a Canadian I was unaware that still existed in Canada.  Halifax has a rich black history and it was good for me to be in its environment for this character. It really helped to enrich the role.”

Set in Halifax, the story of Poor Boy's Game deals with Donnie (Sutherland), who, nine years previous, at the age of 17, was imprisoned for a violent crime against a young black man.  The system deems him reformed, and releases him into the same vicious working class neighbourhood that created him. Existing parallel to Donnie is George (Glover), the father of Donnie's victim, who has been silently awaiting the opportunity to take revenge on the person who severely injured his son.

George surprises himself when, standing face-to-face with his son's attacker, he decides against imposing his own brand of justice. But, George soon discovers that he is alone in his need to move on with his life. His wife, Ruth (Williams), and the entire community want Donnie to pay in blood for what they see as an assault against them all. Donnie and George learn to see beyond their history to the angry, hurt, loving and shockingly similar men inside.   POOR BOY’S GAME is an exploration of the futility of vengeance and the potency of forgiveness.

Tonya Lee Williams-Founder of ReelWorld Film Festival and ReelWorld Foundation

ReelWorld encompasses two distinct yet complimentary entities: an annual spring film festival held in the heart of Toronto and a charitable foundation that has a vested interest in the development of diverse artists. ReelWorld Film Festival (RWFF) is a celebration of racially and culturally diverse film, video & new media and is committed to creating opportunities for emerging talent and audience development.  ReelWorld Foundation (RWF) programs several activities throughout the year, including its signature event, the ReelWorld Indie Film Lounge. Held annually in September, it provides filmmakers with face-to-face networking opportunities with some of the industry’s key players. Another important activity is the foundation’s work with children and youth through such programs like ReelYouth – Take One.