TÓTEM (2023)
Special Features: Opening Night. Q&A with actor Mateo García Elizondo, plus post-screening reception sponsored by the Mexican Cultural Institute in DC
Lila Avilés follows up her acclaimed debut THE CHAMBERMAID with this warm, sensitively told drama about death, which is simultaneously bursting with life. Unfolding over the course of one chaotic day, the film follows seven-year-old Sol (Naíma Sentíes), who watches as her aunts Nuri (Montserrat Marañon, BARDO: FALSE CHRONCILE OF A HANDFUL OF TRUTHS) and Alejandra (Marisol Gasé, NARCOS: MEXICO) prepare the house for a surprise party for her father (acclaimed author and screenwriter Mateo García Elizondo, DESIERTO). She has just one simple wish: "for daddy not to die." Terminally ill, her father spends most of the day locked away in his room, propped up by his nurse (Teresa Sanchez, THE CHAMBERMAID, DOS ESTACIONES), mustering his strength for the night ahead. As day turns to night and the festivities commence, Sol begins to understand this birthday party will be her father's last. DIR/SCR/PROD Lila Avilés; PROD Tatiana Graullera, Louise Riousse. Mexico/Denmark/France, 2023, color, 95 min. In Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
Run Time: 95 Minutes
Opening Date: Thursday, September 21, 2023
Genre: Drama