Totem

Film Essay (Full-length)

While the number of disappeared people in Mexico keep rising, Totem explores the particularities and deeper roots of this type of violence, and imagines new forms of resistance and community in the movements that have emerged against it. The story of two archaeologists searching in vain for an ancient Olmec head in a murky river appears at recurring intervals, questioning the very act of documenting the absent and the invisible.

Directed by UMD
Produced by UMD & Pequén Producciones
Co-produced by Talipot Studio & General Expenses
2022 // 65’ // HD video (color, sound)

Selected Screenings:
- Cinélatino, Rencontres de Toulouse, 03.2024
- L’Alternativa 30, Festival de Cinema Independent de Barcelona, 11.2023 [Special Mention]
- FICUNAM, Ahora México, 06.2023
- Punto de Vista Documentary Film Festival, 03.2023
- MIDBO 24, Muestra Internacional Documental de Bogotá, 10.2022 [Critics Mention for Best Iberoamerican Film]