Name: Coastal Dance Festival 2026—Screening of So Surreal: Behind the Masks
Start: 2026-03-07T15:30:00-08:00
Location: 6393 NW Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC, Canada, British Columbia V6T 1Z2

$Coastal Dance Festival 2026\u2014Screening of So Surreal: Behind the Masks$

Join us for a special film screening of So Surreal: Behind the Masks as part of the Coastal Dance Festival at MOA.
Dancers of Damelahamid, in partnership with MOA and the Anvil Centre, present the 19th annual Coastal Dance Festival. The Festival is a celebration of the stories, songs and dances of the Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast with guest national and international artists.
Drop in to MOA’s Presentation Circle for a screening of So Surreal: Behind the Masks. This feature documentary traces the storied journey of Indigenous masks from the far reaches of Turtle Island (North America) into the hands of European Surrealists, influencing the work of some of the most well-known modern artists and writers of all time including Max Ernst, André Breton and Joan Miró—all while following the dramatic quest to return a mask that was brutally stolen from Canada’s northwest coast over a century ago.
Part caper, part road trip, part spiritual journey, Behind the Mask follows award-winning Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond (Reel Injun) as he travels coast-to-coast and across the Atlantic and back, gradually piecing together this groundbreaking global story of influence and hopeful restitution.
Free with museum admission
The Coastal Dance Festival takes place on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the qəyqəyt (Qayqayt), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), q̓ʷainƛ̓ən (Kwantlen), q̓ic̓əy̓ (Katzie) peoples.
LEARN MORE: https://moa.ubc.ca/event/coastal-dance-festival-2026-screening-of-so-surreal-behind-the-masks/