Behind The Mask

Behind The Mask was produced and directed by Simon K Matthews and produced, written and performed by Amer Chadha Patel and Elena Saurel.

The film is a surreal, deep-dive reflection into men being the worst.

It is also a reflection on actors being the worst.

Finally, it is also a (not so subtle) reflection on actors attempting to make very serious vanity pieces for their showreels.

Which is exactly what this is.

Film-makers Statement

Simon asked Elena and Amer to write some pieces around the 1 minute mark for an idea he had to make some theatrical shorts based on Toxic Masculinity.
Amer and Elena are actors and therefore tend to be exposed to... other actors. They mutually agree that some actors (mostly ones with penises) are the worst type of people. 

So when Simon gave them his toxic males brief, they leapt on it. Also, because they're actors, they want to be on camera as much as humanely possible and so when asked to write a film, they obviously wrote it to completely centre around themselves, (actors are the worst).  They were also completely unable to take direction so they ignored his brief, penned a 14 page nightmare that was way OTT, blackmailed him with wine and took his prized jacket hostage.

Simon being Simon said: “Screw it, let’s make it anyway.”

After they paid for a location, a camera, some lights and a fake beard, they just had to begged their talented friends to work for free. Also if you're going to make a satire about film-making, in a film, then obviously it has to be black and white and have a jazz drum sound track.

Everything else was what we just had lying around. You know, talcum powder, a dog and some velvet curtains.

“Acting is stupid.’ Jennifer Lawrence, Actress.