In tribal cultures, animals often embody poetic qualities. Manyu become living vessels of meaning or totems. In literate cultures, the written word seems to replace the animals as the concrete symbol of metaphor. TOTEM explores the ancient relationship and the shift to our own point of view, in a lyrical, dream-like flow of animated images and sounds.
Music and sound by Bruce Odland.

"This painstaking and perfectly paced film explores the relationship between humans and animals, particularly endangered species, using an alphabetical structure and the subtle interplay between language, iconography, and metaphor."-J. Gluckstern