Former 49er Vernon Davis and Oakland Artists Star In ‘The Masquerade’

What if it were possible for city developers and elected officials to see the future consequences of their actions before making decisions? And what if they could revisit a younger version of themselves and get reacquainted with the dreams that originally led them to a position of political power?

These questions about influence, community and the illusions created by the passing of time are at the heart of the short film The Masquerade. Written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Joslyn Rose Lyons, the film debuts Tuesday, April 1, at Oakland’s Grand Lake Theatre.

Alongside The Nature of the World, Tales of the Town and a teaser of See It Thru: The Jacka Docu-Series, the film will screen as part of the theater’s Indie Night Bay Area event.

The Masquerade, set in the fictional town of Nova Heights, is made in the image of Anytown, USA where development and culture clash — but Oakland is clearly an inspiration for the film. The action takes place around an elegant dinner table, where community stakeholders discuss the city’s ability to retain its history and spirit while it grasps for a high-tech future.

Lyons, who was born in Berkeley and raised in Oakland, wrote the film after seeing so many changes in her hometown. She calls it a love letter to time, even while parts of it feel like a diss track to change.

“I grew up and went to school in Oakland my whole life,” says Lyons, listing Claremont Middle School, Bishop O’Dowd and California College of the Arts as institutions that shaped her as a person and artist.

She says the changes to the Town over the past decade, specifically the loss of the A’s, Raiders and Warriors, are illustrative of a city in flux.

“We’re the only city in this country that has ever lost all of its professional sports teams,” she says. “You don’t even have to be a sports fan to to understand the magnitude of what that means for an economy of a city, for the soul of a city and ultimately for its dreams.”

Dreams are a big part of The Masquerade, and also the focus of Lyons’ forthcoming initiative, in partnership with Oaklandish, to support artists and creatives called Oakland Dream Makers.

“Oakland,” she says, “gave me the ability to dream, and gave me the foundation to feel like I had a voice.”

Lyons has used that voice to tell some significant stories. She’s the director of Stand, the Emmy-nominated documentary on basketball star and activist Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, which features the Bay Area’s own Steph Curry and Academy award-winning actor Mahershala Ali. She served as the impact producer on Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth to Power, a film about the legacy of Congresswoman Barbara Lee. Additionally, Lyons has produced music videos for Bay Area artists Hieroglyphics, Too $hort, E-40 and Mahershala Ali back when he was rapping under the stage name Prince Ali.

Lyons knows all about pursuing and achieving a dream. But, as she asks in her most recent film, what happens when the source for dreaming is turned off? When the institutions that build the individuals put income over community?

These scenarios compelled her to write a piece envisioning what the behind-the-scenes meetings might entail. As the full cast sits at a long fancy dinner table, the conversation is anchored by two brothers: one arguing for the smart city of the future and the other holding tight to the soul of a city from the past.

One brother, an artist and activist named Jason, is played by Omar Bolden. The other brother, a businessman named Jared, is portrayed by Dushaun Thompson.

The two are flanked by a reporter, a real estate tycoon, a city planner, a billionaire investor, a choreographer, an architect, an arts commissioner and a tech investor. The fictional role of Mayor Rasheed is played by Oakland actor Donald E. Lacy Jr.

Behind the scenes, Lacy Jr. is also an activist. The 1997 murder of Lacy Jr.’s first child, LoEshé Lacy, led him to found the LoveLife Foundation, which combats violence in Oakland. The foundation’s name is also the basis for Oakland’s official motto, “Love Life.”

After reading the script for The Masquerade, Lyons says, Lacy Jr. told her that he’d sat in on a lot of political meetings in his life, and they match her script exactly.

While city council meetings have been known to be dramatic, The Masquerade goes a bit further, as former San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis plays an illusionist who brings visions of the past and the future into the discussion about community development.

Lyons says Davis approached the stage with the same discipline and commitment that he brought to football. In the film, Davis’ character, dressed in a black jacket, blue scarf and black leather gloves, eloquently leads the rest of the cast through a hypnosis in order to reveal what they once dreamed of becoming, and the potential consequences of the decisions they’re making now.

“There was a lot of drama in the way that he played it,” Lyons says of Davis. “He took it off the page in a way that I did not imagine, but it totally worked.”

Through both the film’s subject matter and cast, the movie pulls directly from the Oakland arts community. Lucy, the film’s arts commissioner, is played by Simone Leanora. She and RyanNicole Austin, who plays an architect named Sable, are both products of Oakland schools and arts institutions.

A step further into the meta nature of the film is the presence of renowned turf dancer Gary “Ice Cold 3000” Morgan.

“I called him at the last minute,” says Lyons, asking if he’d like to turf dance with a modern contemporary dance group for her short film. “He pulled up the next day and did his thing,” she says.

Ice Cold 3000, who along with his group the Turf Feinz recently performed alongside Kendrick Lamar at this year’s Super Bowl halftime show, has been giggin’ on stages and in videos for over a two decades. He and Lyons met in 2013 when she directed an E-40 music video “Fast Lane”and have stayed in contact since.

Lyons sees Ice Cold 3000, who gained notoriety after performing in the viral 2009 video “RIP RichD Dancing In The Rain,” as an artist whose work is an intricate part of the city’s fabric. She stops short of saying that artists have to be activists, but she does believe that it’s up to artists, including herself, to “be honest reflections of the things we’re observing.”

“And ultimately,” she adds, “the conversation I would like this piece to start is, what does community mean to you? And what does it mean for our future?”

She closes by asking, “Where does art live?” Which, in the midst of thoughts around city development and a government in disarray, also leaves the unspoken lingering question: where does art die?

‘The Masquerade’ screens on Tuesday, April 1, at the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland as a part of Indie Night Bay Area. Details here.