From 1885 to 1951, Canadian law banned the Indigenous Potlatch ceremony. Those who defied the ban were arrested, and masks and ceremonial objects were confiscated. The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw nation has made it their quest to track down these sacred items. In some cases, the masks traveled across the country and eventually to Europe, finding their way into museums and private art collections, as well as ending up in the hands of surrealists like Max Ernst, André Breton, and Joan Miró. So Surreal: Behind the Masks traces the delightful confluence of the Yup’ik sensibility and the Western avant-garde movement and demonstrates the tremendous impact of Indigenous art in the most unexpected corners.
Neil Diamond and Joanne Roberton’s hugely entertaining film is part detective movie, part art doc. As it moves back and forth between Alert Bay, New York, and Paris, it provides an unusual and little-known perspective on art history, while highlighting the crucial work of redressing the cultural genocide perpetrated by Canadian and American authorities. Vital and vibrant, this film is an outstanding achievement.
Presented by
Media Partner
Neil Diamond, Bill Cranmer, Juanita Johnston, Chuna McIntyre, John McIntyre
Canada
2024
English
TBC
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Catherine Bainbridge, Ernest Webb
Producer
Daniel Morin
Screenwriter
Neil Diamond, Joanne Robertson
Cinematography
Glauco Bermudez, Yoan Cart
Editor
Rebecca Lessard
Original Music
Anaïs Larocque
Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond is a Cree filmmaker from Waskaganish, Quebec, on the coast of James Bay. Neil co-directed the award-winning feature documentaries, Reel Injun (2009) and the more recent Red Fever (2024) along with Cree Spoken Here (2001), One More River (2004), and Heavy Metal: A Mining Disaster in Northern Quebec (2005). He is an award-winning photographer, and co-founder of The Nation, the first news magazine to serve the Cree of northern Quebec and Ontario.
Filmography: Cree Spoken Here (2001); One More River (2004); Heavy Metal: A Mining Disaster in Northern Quebec (2005); Reel Injun (2009); Inuit Cree Reconciliation (2013); Red Fever (2024)
Joanne Robertson
Joanne Robertson grew up as a settler on the west coast on the lands of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish). Today she is a director, researcher, and creative producer. She began her work with Rezolution Pictures over 25 years ago, collaborating with Cree co-director Neil Diamond on such documentary projects as Cree Spoken Here (2001), Dab Iyiyuu (2004-2006), and One More River (2004). She has worked as a story producer on APTN’s Lands Enchanted (2024) and the award-winning documentary Red Fever (2024).
Filmography: À Table (2010)
Portraits
See more films in this series
Draw Me Egypt: Doaa El-Adl, a Stroke of Freedom
Doaa el-Adl is one of the most prominent of the very few female cartoonists in the Arab world. Blending documentary, cartoons, and animation, this film brings her courageous art to life as she advocates for women’s rights and change in Egyptian society.
A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things
In May 1949, the modernist Scottish painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham ascended the Grindelwald glacier in Switzerland. The experience was transformative becoming a fount of creative inspiration which she would return to for the rest of her artistic life.
Modernism, Inc.
An insightful look into the heart and soul of modernism in postwar America through the artistic legacy of Eliot Noyes, trailblazing industrial designer, architect, and lifelong innovator who spent four decades introducing modern design to American life.
Uncropped
New York photographer James Hamilton has done it all in a remarkable career spanning six decades with The Village Voice, Harper's Bazaar etc. D.W. Young’s energetic doc tells the story of the halcyon days of alternative print media through the 70s and 80s.
Viva Niki - The Spirit of Niki de Saint Phalle
From her exuberant outdoor Nana sculptures to her breathtaking masterwork, The Tarot Garden in Tuscany, the playfully vibrant oeuvre of feminist monumental sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle is the subject of Michiko Matsumoto’s delightful documentary.
Pol Pot Dancing
The story of a boy and future dictator, and the woman who saved Khmer classical dance after the brutal Cambodian genocide, Enrique Sánchez Lansch’s documentary is a stunning achievement that sheds new light on one of the darkest moments of history.
John Singer Sargent: Fashion & Swagger
Artist John Singer Sargent possessed the ability to capture the essence and soul of a person, producing some of the most memorable portraits ever created. Director David Bickerstaff pays fitting tribute to this master of portraiture and light.
So Surreal: Behind the Masks
In the early 20th century many traditional Indigenous masks ended up in Europe, in museums and art collections, and, as this entertaining doc reveals, in the hands of surrealist artists like Max Ernst, André Breton, and Joan Miró...
Googoosh - Made of Fire
Still on stage in her 70s, Iranian pop icon Googoosh has lived through decades of political persecution, 20 years of house arrest, exile, and a comeback. A fascinating portrait of a troubled and turbulent Iran through the life of an extraordinary woman.
A Stranger Quest
David Rumsey has dedicated himself to assembling a vast collection of historical maps. Looking back on his life and pondering his legacy, he reflects on how we trace our place in the world, on maps, memory, and mortality.
Luther: Never Too Much
The ups and downs of singer-songwriter Luther Vandross are put on frank display in this moving biographical documentary. It’s a look at an artistic legacy that we’re only now able to fully reckon with, and a reintroduction to music we can’t get enough of.
Disco's Revenge
This loving, vivacious doc chronicles disco’s trajectory, from its origins in the early 70s to its repudiation in the early 80s to its triumphant rebirth as house music. The directors capture not only the facts about the genre but the feel of it as well.