This evening marks the opening night for the 2008 ReelWorld Film Festival. Established in 2001 by Canadian actor Tonya Lee Williams, the festival mandate is to showcase diverse films and filmmakers to Canadian and International audiences. The opening film of the festival is Spinning into Butter, based on the play by Rebecca Gilman, about a Dean's reaction to a hate crime on the campus of her college in a small New England town. Produced and starring Sarah Jessica Parker, it is the first film by director Mark Brokaw and will be screened at the Scotiabank Theatre at 7pm tonight. For more festival highlights, read on.

Two other features that have been getting some attention at the festival this year are; Cutting Da Mustard about a group of young community theatre actors in Queens and Dirty Laundry, about a gay, urban African American man who returns home to Georgia to meet a son he didn't know he had.

ReelWorld also usually features some interesting documentary films, this year being no different. The documentaries vary from one about activist/songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie, to a feature on bullying , a short about the deconstruction and reconstruction of Shanghai as well as a short about the afro, entitled Nappy Heads. One specific full length documentary to watch out for at the festival is Welcome to Nollywood, about emerging filmmakers in Nigeria, their struggles and unique film style.

For this and more, take a look at the full festival schedule. ReelWorld runs from today until Sunday April 6th.

Image: Buffy Sainte-Marie: A Multimedia Life from ReelWorld