Filmmaker Statement

When Danraj and I started talking about the concept of the mask, and a character bound to theirs, I saw an opportunity to try my hand at more visual world-building. Being drawn to surrealism, I was excited to further explore nuanced human experiences in colorful worlds. When we developed the film at the turn of 2021, the real life phenomena of isolation, loneliness, and waves of self discovery was a present wellspring to draw from. While we did use quarantine as a backdrop for the film, our personal experiences from it became the main focus of the story. My inspiration to take on a silent film was largely pragmatic. The more we discussed the world of the story, and envisioned the visual language of the film, I felt that the visual metaphor of masks vs. bare faces was strong enough to stand on its own. Together we made the decision to cut the fluff and dive boldly into experimentation.