A film by Lila Avilés. In Spanish with German and English subtitles.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

In her second film after The Chambermaid in 2018, Lila Avilés lea­ves behind the cram­ped hotel rooms of her debut but con­ti­nues to work on the con­nec­tion bet­ween rela­ti­onships and inte­ri­or spaces. This time, the set­ting is a lar­ge house whe­re, over the cour­se of a long day, fami­ly and fri­ends meet for a dual ritu­al: it is the bir­th­day of young father and pain­ter Tona, but as it will likely be his last, it is also a fare­well cerem­o­ny. There is dua­li­ty in the film’s soul, too, with the fren­zy of pre­pa­ra­ti­ons and the spon­ta­n­ei­ty of the cele­bra­ti­on con­ce­al­ing the pro­found­ly archaic and spi­ri­tu­al dimen­si­on of the title. Tona’s wea­k­en­ed body is initi­al­ly invi­si­ble, pro­tec­ted in a room whe­re he tri­es to sum­mon up the strength requi­red for the huma­nist cerem­o­ny in which he will be show­e­red with all the love and affec­tion nee­ded to face his final jour­ney.
Like the cha­rac­ter of the bon­sai-loving patri­arch, Avilés takes meti­cu­lous care in sha­ping her own minia­tu­re, ben­ding tra­jec­to­ries and fee­lings, pru­ning all frills and excess. A film that pre­pa­res for loss, Tótem amas­ses signs and forms of life: ani­mals, insects, plants and a para­de of won­derful human beings who are stron­ger together.

Credits:

MX DK FR 2023 95 Minuten
spa­ni­sche OmU (deut­sche und eng­li­sche Untertitel)
Regie, Buch: Lila Avilés
Kamera: Diego Tenorio
Schnitt: Omar Guzmán
mit: Naíma Sentíes
Monserrat Marañon
Marisol Gasé
Saori Gurza
Teresita Sánchez

Trailer:

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