Welcome to the 2024 Real2Reel Film Festival

A purpose-driven event addressing complex social issues such as poverty, human trafficking, substance disorders, and social inclusion.

Traffick On 401

Synopsis: Traffick on 401 explores the sex trafficking world in Ontario and Michigan by speaking to a survivor, the Windsor Police Service, and advocates. Victoria Morrison, a sex trafficking survivor, tells us her story of what she went through for three months with her trafficker in Winnipeg, Canada.

Event Details

Date: June 6, 2024

Time: Screening & Panel Discussion 6:30 – 9:30pm

Panelists: Coming Soon!

Location: Theatre Muskoka, 100 Clearbrook Trail, Bracebridge, ON P1L 0A3

Watch the trailer

Warning: This documentary trailer contains mature content.

Ten Dollar Death Trip

Synopsis: A new synthetic drug is killing more than gun crime, homicide and car accidents combined. 100 times stronger than heroin, the deadly opioid fentanyl is cheap, potent and small enough to send in the post (from China via the dark web). These market forces have seen it replacing the heroin supply, spreading unprecedented death, destruction and misery. And now, due to its strength and low cost, the drug is also starting to appear in party drugs, such as cocaine and cannabis – with fatal results. We visit the epicentre of the fentanyl epidemic to meet with health care workers, activists, fentanyl dealers and people who use it, and learn what we should expect if the fentanyl epidemic spreads outside of North America.

Event Details

Date: August 28, 2024

Time: Screening & Panel Discussion 6:30 – 9:30pm

Panelists: To be announced

Location: Midland Cultural Centre 333 King St, Midland, ON L4R 3M7

Watch the trailer

Warning: This trailer contains disturbing content and is intended for mature audiences only.

We Were Children

Synopsis: The profound impact of the Canadian government’s residential school system is conveyed through the eyes of two children who were forced to face hardships beyond their years. As young children, Lyna and Glen were taken from their homes and placed in church-run boarding schools, where they suffered years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, the effects of which persist in their adult lives. We Were Children gives voice to a national tragedy and demonstrates the incredible resilience of the human spirit.  (This film does contain some disturbing content of sexual abuse and is not recommended for persons under the age of 16). 

Event Details

Date: September 2024

Time: Screening & Panel Discussion 6:30 – 9:30pm

Panelists:

Location: Coming Soon!

Watch the trailer

Warning: This trailer contains disturbing content and is intended for mature audiences only.

Four Feet Up

Synopsis: Twenty years after the promise of the House of Commons ‘to eliminate poverty among Canadian children,’ eight-year-old Isaiah contemplates what ‘less fortunate’ means as he finds his voice through his own magical drawings and photographs. This profound documentary invites us into the lives of this determined family, revealing an intimate and touching experience of child poverty in one of the world’s richest nations.

Thank you to the panelists and to everyone from the community who attended!

 

Event Details

Date: March 26, 2024

Time: Screening & Panel Discussion 6:30 – 9:30pm

Panelists:

Samantha Jones: Program Manager at My Friends House – Women and Children’s Shelter. Samantha has been in the Social Services field since 2007. Her career began working in Mental Health and Addictions with individuals who also had complex physical health issues. She transitioned from this role into more focused work around women’s counselling, leading into her now role at My Friends House where she has been overseeing Programs and Services for abused women and children fleeing domestic violence in the South Georgian Baya area since 2017.

Vanessa Hurley, RD, BscHN (Hon), MHSc.: Public Health Nutritionist in the Chronic Disease Prevention Program at the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit.  She has over twenty years working as a Registered Dietitian and is very involved in household food insecurity and food affordability work in her current role in public health. She is also a member of the Simcoe County Food Council and has recently taken on the Chair role. She is single mom of two boys (and a dog) with a father who was able to break the cycle of generational poverty. She is passionate about child health and reducing household and child food insecurity rates in our region.

Doug Linton: Broker with the Linton Whitton Group part of Royal LePage Locations North. He brings considerable knowledge of the South Georgian Bay housing market.

 

Location: Simcoe Street Theatre, 65 Simcoe St Studio 7, Collingwood ON L9Y 1H7

Watch the trailer

Warning: This documentary trailer contains mature content.

Get Involved: Sponsorship Opportunities

If you would like to sponsor any of these films or get involved in another United Way Simcoe Muskoka event, please contact:

Rosi Martin

Relationship Manager
rmartin@uwsimcoemuskoka.ca

705.726.2301 x2035