TIFF 2024 Spotlight: SO SURREAL: BEHIND THE MASKS

Part caper, part road trip, part spiritual journey, So Surreal: Behind the Masks follows award-winning Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond (Reel Injun, Red Fever) as he travels coast-to-coast and across the Atlantic and back, gradually piecing together this groundbreaking global story of influence, reconnection and hopeful restitution.

So Surreal: Behind the Masks begins with Neil in New York making a call to a detective getting us invested in the story we are about to witness. Here he hears about a century old Yup’ik mask selling at a high-end art fair, alongside the works of some of the greats of modern art. Research reveals that mask once belonged to Surrealist painter Enrico Donati, except apparently Donati was not the only Surrealist who collected Indigenous masks.

His journey takes him to Yup’ik territory (Alaska), where collectors came to purchase and trade at the turn of the 20th century, in the early heyday of museums under the guise of the ‘Vanishing Indian’. He learns many of these masks ended up in museums and private collections, including those of the Surrealist artists. Eager to learn more, Neil continues down to British Columbia to the lands of the Kwakwa̱ ka̱ʼwakw, where more ceremonial masks were collected and eventually ended up in the hands of the Surrealists.

Chuna McIntyre, Yup’ik master artist, storyteller, and dancer, at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

The story continues to unravel as Neil follows in the footsteps of the masks across the Atlantic to Paris where the Surrealists returned after the war with their large collections of Indigenous masks in tow. There he is joined by Yup’ik storyteller and dancer, Chuna McIntyre, who is in Paris to reconnect with the Yup’ik masks that were previously in Surrealist collections, and that today are part of many museum collections including the Louvre.

While in Paris, even more incredible news surface about an elusive Raven Transformation Mask. Neil tries to look-out for clues about this mask. Up until now, it is unclear if the community will finally be able to bring the mask home. Throughout the film, this notion of repatriation of masks and other Indigenous art permeates. The film is incredibly entertaining as well as thought-provoking. For those of us who enjoy a trip to an art gallery or museum, So Surreal… will give us plenty to ponder about in terms of the items we are told are ‘art’ and their so-called history.

So Surreal… had its world premiere at TIFF this year. During their time at the festival, I met up with the film’s writers and directors Neil Diamond and Joanne Robertson. They shared details about the work that went into putting this film together, the connections made during the process, and future hopes for the film and the masks that have yet to return home.