Beyond the Mask: A New Film Begins to Take Shape
Preparations for Beyond the Mask, a new film exploring the stories, identities, and experiences hidden beneath the surface, begin this September as the creative team moves into development and production.
Every person has a story.
Some stories are openly shared. Others remain hidden behind expectations, circumstances, cultural identities, personal struggles, and the roles people are expected to play. Beyond the Mask begins with a simple question: What would we discover if we looked beyond what people show the world?
Beginning in September 2026, preparations for Beyond the Mask will officially get underway. The project, supported by a $10,000 Creation Grant from the Vermont Arts Council, is being developed as a film that brings together storytelling, artistic expression, culture, and lived experience.
A Film About What We Don't Always See
Beyond the Mask explores the contrast between the person the world sees and the person who exists beneath that public image.
The film will use personal stories and artistic storytelling to examine themes of identity, vulnerability, resilience, belonging, culture, memory, and human connection. It seeks to create an intimate encounter with individuals whose experiences may otherwise remain unseen or unheard.
The "mask" in the title is not necessarily something negative. It represents the many identities and roles people assume as they navigate life—the professional, the parent, the artist, the immigrant, the leader, the student, the survivor, the caregiver, the successful person, or simply the person who appears to have everything together.
Behind each of these identities is a human being with a story.
Beyond the Mask seeks to tell those stories.
From Storytelling to Film
Originally conceived around live storytelling and multidisciplinary artistic expression, Beyond the Mask is now taking shape as a film project.
The film format creates an opportunity to explore these stories with greater intimacy. Through cinematography, interviews, performance, sound, music, visual storytelling, and carefully developed narratives, the project can bring audiences closer to the people and experiences at its center.
Rather than simply documenting stories, the creative process will seek to give each story an artistic language of its own.
The result is intended to be a film that is personal without being confined to one person's experience; culturally grounded while remaining universally accessible.
Preparations Begin in September
September marks the beginning of an important development period for the project.
During this phase, the creative team will work on story development, research, artistic direction, production planning, participant engagement, filming preparations, and other elements necessary to bring the project to the screen.
This preparation is an essential part of the creative process. Before the cameras begin rolling, stories must be listened to, relationships established, narratives developed, and the artistic vision carefully shaped.
The project is expected to continue through January 2027, creating a focused period for development, production, and completion.
The Human Story at the Center
At its core, Beyond the Mask is not simply a film about problems, differences, or difficult experiences.
It is about people.
It is about the courage to tell one's story, the willingness to listen to another person's experience, and the possibility of discovering something familiar in a story that initially appears completely different from our own.
The film will explore the spaces between public identity and private experience, between what people say and what they feel, and between the assumptions we make about others and the realities of their lives.
In doing so, Beyond the Mask hopes to encourage audiences to look again—to listen more deeply and to recognize the humanity that exists beyond appearances.
An Artistic and Cultural Journey
Led by Vermont-based artist and cultural practitioner Simon Yiga, the project reflects his broader interest in the relationship between art, culture, storytelling, and community.
Yiga's artistic work is informed by experiences across cultures and by a longstanding engagement with music, performance, cultural expression, and community development. These perspectives provide an important foundation for Beyond the Mask and its exploration of identity and human experience.
The support from the Vermont Arts Council provides an important foundation for the project's development and recognizes the value of creating new artistic work that can engage audiences through meaningful storytelling.
Looking Ahead
With preparations beginning this September, Beyond the Mask enters an exciting new stage.
The months ahead will involve listening, creating, filming, refining, and bringing together the many elements required to transform an idea into a finished film.
The project will ultimately ask audiences to do what its title suggests:
Look beyond the mask.
Because sometimes the most important part of a person's story is the part the world never gets to see.
