Top 200 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2023: #66. Lila Avilés’ Totem

Totem

A project that would have shot sometime around the summer of ’21, auteur Lila Avilés reteamed with actress Teresa Sanchez and Lazua Larios (from Michel Franco’s Sundown) for her sophomore feature. Supported via Rotterdam Film Fest’s Hubert Bals Funds, Limerencia’s Avilés, Tatiana Graullera and Louise Riousse produced Totem – a tale about a girl who navigates an adult’s world and her relationship with her father. We’re huge fans of this Mexican filmmaker whose social realist essay The Chambermaid – which preemed at TIFF, Donostia-San Sebastián and BFI London preemed.

Gist: 7 year-old Sol spends a day in the family house where a strange and chaotic atmosphere reigns. While her family rushes through the preparations for her father’s birthday party, Sol understands, little by little, that her world is about to change dramatically.

Release Date/Prediction: We think this might grab a Berlinale Golden Bear slot.