Reckoning with gun cultures.
“It should be a model for public discourse.”
— Dr. Richard Slotkin, Wesleyan University
“Thought provoking without being biased.”
— Robert Speer, Newsreview.com
Exploring the topic of guns in America from a more nuanced approach than the standard “more guns versus less guns” debate, American Totem recognizes that Americans have complex, and often contradictory, relationships with firearms.
ABOUT THE FILM
After public mass shootings, the national gun debate consists of predictable talking points that focus on the object and neglect the underlying causes. However, firearms are unlike other objects. For some Americans, they are the symbols of personal identity and community. For other Americans, they represent racial oppression and violence.
American Totem explores Americans’ emotional connection to firearms, and the power of this object to both create and destroy community. Taking a non-partisan approach, diverse communities, gun rights activists, gunshot victims and community organizers share their stories; and historians, philosophers, and sociologists offer their viewpoints.
Totem: an object serving as an emblem of a family or clan, and often as a reminder of its ancestry.
FEATURING
Scott Crow, Author, Setting Sights: Reflections and Histories on Community Armed Self Defense
Julianna Crowder, Founder, A Girl and A Gun Women’s Shooting League
Big Flawliss, Rapper and Actor, gunshot victim
Cody Wilson, Founder, Defense Distributed
Melina Abdullah, PhD Pan-African Studies, California State University, Los Angeles
Rakem & Yafeuh Balogun, Co-founders, Huey P. Newton Gun Club
Soraya Chemaly, Journalist and Author, Rage Becomes Her
Saul Cornell, PhD Fordham University, A Well-Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America
Firmin DeBrabander, PhD Philosophy, Maryland Institute College of Art, Do Guns Make Us Free?
Pamela Haag, PhD Author, The Gunning of America
Tina Maldonado, Firearms Instructor
Mark Kaplan, PhD Luskin School of Public Affairs, UCLA
Fatima Mann, Co-founder, Counter Balance: ATX
John E. Price, PhD History, Penn State University
Harel Shapira, PhD Sociology, University of Texas Austin, Waiting for Jose
PRESS
Red, Blue, and Brady Podcast
"Too often, the conversation around gun violence prevention ends before it even has a chance to begin. American Totem beautifully illustrates how a wide variety of Americans feel about gun ownership, and in doing so provides a model for how to engage in the debate and take action for gun violence prevention, not sides."
“American Totem provides an essential introduction to the conversation that Americans need to be having right now around firearms and gun violence prevention. More than ever, we need to come together — gun owners and non-gun owners alike — and a key way to do that is to understand the emotional connection people have to their point of view."
— Kris Brown, President, Brady: United Against Gun Violence
“A superb documentary, that looks past the partisan abstractions of the 'gun rights' debate to show how different cultural communities understand and use firearms. What sets it apart is the way in which it invites each community to speak for itself, and gives each a respectful hearing. It should be a model for public discourse.”
— Dr. Richard Slotkin, Wesleyan University, Olin Professor of English and American Studies
"In addition to providing an excellent data-driven analysis of gun violence in the United States, American Totem also offers a visually rich look at the ways Hollywood and the gun industry have inculcated a narrative that romanticizes gun use and killing by the 'good guys'...Thought provoking without being biased."
— Robert Speer, Newsreview.com
“Critics have long held that the gun was a phallic symbol, the symbol of an aggressive potent virility. But the film shows it is much more than that: it is an extension of our selves, a magic wand that restores all that masculinity that has been lost to the forces of modern society.”
— Dr. Michael Kimmel, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies / Executive Director, Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities
FILMMAKER’S STATEMENT
Director/producer Sue Hilderbrand is a political talk show host and college professor, based in Chico, CA. In 2016, she set out on a journey across the country to talk with Americans about firearms, and to document the solutions to gun violence. What she found was not what she expected.
Rakem Balogun, Sue Hilderbrand, and Yafeuh Balogun
"I decided to make American Totem in response to what seemed to be a rise in mass shootings across the country. Like most Americans, I thought the solutions to address gun violence were obvious, and only political will was lacking. I believed that if I simply offered unbiased facts, political action would follow. But the conclusions I’ve drawn in the process are not the ones I set out to find. I’ve learned that this object has meaning to both sides of the political debate, and a deeper understanding of what the gun represents is critical for reducing gun violence. My hope is that this film reframes the debate in order to move us towards a more peaceful society."
— Sue Hilderbrand
WATCH THE FILM
Available to stream on Show&Tell Film
Organize A Screening
American Totem is best viewed in a group. As such, our distribution strategy focuses on community screenings and discussions about how to reduce gun violence. The filmmaker is available to take part in your screening.
To organize a virtual screening in your community or a watch party, contact us at info@americantotem.com or go to https://www.videoproject.com/American-Totem.html
Screening fees help us cover the cost of making and promoting American Totem, but we do not want cost to be a barrier to sharing the film. We are happy to discuss ways to make a screening happen that won't strain your organization's capacity. Most of all, let us know about your screening so we can document the impact of the film!
On DVD
American Totem is available to educational institutions and community groups through our distributor, The Video Project.
