Lila Avilés’ TÓTEM opens January 26, 2024 at Film Forum. It follows “7-year-old Sol helping her aunts prepare for her father’s surprise birthday party, as the house grows increasingly boisterous and her dad’s absence increasingly mysterious.”

Written and directed by Lila Avilés, TÓTEM stars Naíma Sentíes (Sol), Montserrat Marañon (Nuri), Marisol Gasé (Alejandra), Saori Gurza (Esther), Mateo García Elizondo (Tonatiuh).

TÓTEM is nominated for the 2024 Independent Spirit Award, the 2023 Gotham Award for Best International Feature Film, and is Mexico’s official submission to the 2024 Academy Awards® in the same category. The film was named one of the top five international films of the year by the National Board of Review, and one of the best films of the year by Vulture, Vanity Fair, Associated Press, and Slate. TÓTEM won the Ecumenical Jury Prize in competition at the Berlin Film Festival as well as the Best Feature, Best Director, and Audience Award prizes at the 2023 Morelia Film Festival.

Check out the film’s trailer below: