Valemon
the
bear Myth
in the Age
of the Anthropocene

Is it naive to say that the world as we know it won’t end if we keep telling stories? Maybe not, if we reconsider the kinds of stories we tell. Ancient stories, myths, old tales—these kinds of stories hold something powerful. Call it bone memory, call it the deep, primordial part of ourselves, call it the voice that gossips with the wild, across species and across time. If we listen, we hear it calling. If we listen, we find ourselves deep in the forest, where a large white bear holds something we all desire. What journey lies ahead if we follow our deepest longing?

Part one

Every myth begins with the day
everything changes.

Every myth sets us on a journey.

In this moment of ecological crisis, when everything is changing every day, will we say yes to the
journey that
lies ahead?

“We
as human
beings are
meant
to be
wedded to
the
wild.”

Bone Memory

The Earth itself
thinks in myth.

There is an aliveness in it.

It speaks across species,

a form of ecological
communication

that invites us
into the unknown forest.

Part two

To undertake a perilous journey requires courage

and service to
something bigger than us.

Stories that place only ourselves at the center

are doomed to fail us.

The Timeless,
Not Just the Timebound

In myth,
our souls can fall deeper.

Myths tenderize us

to make different decisions
about how we live.

Part three

“The Earth
itself
thinks
in myth.”

Credits
Director	Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee
Producers	Adam Loften, Devin Tellatin & Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee
Cinematography	Adam Loften & Jeremy Seifert
Editors	Adam Loften & Jeremy Seifert
Photography	Jeremy Seifert
Illustration	Martin Shaw
Original Music	Matthew Atticus Berger, H. Scott Salinas & Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee
Sound Recordist	Adam Loften
Sound Designer & Mixer	Matthew Mikkelsen
Color Grader	Chris Madera
Text adapted from an interview with	Martin Shaw

Graphic Design	Studio Airport
Code	September Digital