The Human Rights Film Festival, a collaboration of Human Rights Studies, Cinema and Digital Media, Global Affairs and the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis, begins with a screening of So Surreal: Behind the Masks on Jan. 30.

The festival’s screenings are part of a larger academic series, The UC Confronts Hate, Violence and Mass Atrocity: Conversations about Human Rights, Humanity and PeaceMaking administered by Human Rights Studies at UC Davis with funding from the UC Office of the President to develop educational programs to “combat antisemitism, Islamophobia and other forms of bias, bigotry and discrimination.”

So Surreal: Behind the Masks unveils the fascinating connection between the work of famed Surrealist artists and Yupʼik and Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw ceremonial masks, and the quest to bring some of the masks back home. The film premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.

Following the film there will be a discussion with Chuna McIntyre (Yup’ik) — who is featured in the film — and moderated by Professor Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie (Seminole, Muscogee, Diné), faculty director of the Gorman Museum of Native American Art.

McIntyre is a master artist, storyteller, and dancer. Born in the village of Eek on the coast of the Behring Sea, McIntyre was raised there by his grandmother from whom he learned the dances, songs, and stories of his ancestors. 

The screening is in Room 1002, Cruess Hall and begins at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to all. 

The festival continues with three more screenings

• Feb 27: Borderland: The Line Within
• March 6: Green Border
• April 24: Aurora’s Sunrise