Director's Statement
Sitting in one-hundred and ten degree sun, I once watched a woman pose with a melting milkshake as she attempted to take her own photo. As the shutter clicked, the over-priced theme park milkshake began to melt, and she was forced to wipe dripping whipped cream from her hand, however this did not deter her. In fact, she continued photographing herself for seven minutes without ever actually tasting the milkshake. When she walked away resigned, I assumed she was going to post that the photo to social media. I wondered when she looks back at the photo, would she remember how the milkshake tasted? Would she remember how delicious it was, how it offered a sugary repose from the heat? What would the image mean to “her followers?” It dawned on me that people could consciously edit what they post on social media in order to simulate happy memories. “The Mask in Our Hands” unpacks the layers of simulated emotions and asks can we rectify our past with how we present it to others? Can our simulated experiences help others or are they detrimental?
Joseph Sacks
Writer/Director
JSacks06@gmail.com
Los Angeles, CA
Born and raised in Seattle, Joseph connected with film at a young age by browsing VHS tapes at the local Channel 3 Video. Throughout his growth into adulthood, the existential question of “why” lingered in his mind like slate gray clouds over the Cascade mountains where he grew up backpacking. He left college for a stint to cook in a kitchen and then study in Paris. With the privilege of seeing the world and learning from other cultures, Joseph would seek out Art House Cinemas across the world to aid in his existential quandary. He read Steppenwolf on a train across the Moroccan desert, Frankel in a Cafe in Paris, and was able to help create a fundraising video for a Buddhist Monastery in Rumtek, India. Yet, despite making films for school projects and receiving a degree in English from Western Washington University, it wasn’t until a dinner table conversation with a mentor that he set off on a sincere quest to express his philosophy through film. He left his job working in a bar and with no formal film education, he found work as a creative assistant and helped to develop two novels and co-Produce a feature film, Flag Day, that screened in-competition at the Cannes Film Festival.