Those associated with “The Mystery of George Masa” are hoping it succeeds on several levels.

Paul Bonesteel, producer and director of the new film, plans to enter it in the Sundance Film Festival and the Asian-American Film Festival. He says PBS has expressed interested in at least a regional showing, and at the very least North Carolina Public Television will likely show the film sometime after Jan. 1, 2003.

“North Carolina Public Television has been involved from the early stages,” said Bonesteel.

“The hope is that the story is good enough to capture a lot of people’s attention,” he said.

The 37-year-old Bonesteel has 10 years experience in the production of documentary films. In 1991, he traveled to the then Soviet Union to direct “If the People Will Lead,” a documentary focusing on the role that the media played in the fall of communism. The George Masa film marks the eighth documentary he’s done, and he is hoping that it will be his most successful.

“All the publicity and selling starts now,” he said, referring to the premieres over the next two weeks in the Appalachian region.

On another level, the making of “The Mystery of George Masa” marks a collaboration between Bonesteel and The Friends of the Smokies, a group that raises money for various projects in and around the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Friends was instrumental in raising $10,000 from the Suzanne Marcus Collins Foundation and a donation of $1,000 worth of motion picture film from Kodak. Many people associated with The Friends also knew of Masa and provided help in locating contacts with some of his photographs and stories about him, said Bonesteel.

“I am looking forward to a continuing partnership with this organization,”said Bonesteel.