29.09.2023 | HH premiere of "Totem and me"
The kind of protector we all need: "Totem and I" is about 11-year-old Ama, whose family in the Netherlands is to be deported from one day to the next. Ama flees from the police - and from then on has a giant porcupine at her side to protect her. Directors and Script Writer Sander Berger's film was co-produced by Leitwolf Filmproduktion from Hamburg and celebrates its Hamburg premiere at the MICHEL Filmfest Hamburg.
It took around three months for the puppet to be completed in the Netherlands. The porcupine, which follows lead actress Amani-Jean Philippe through a large part of the family film "Totem", is around 3.5 metres long and 2 metres high. "One of the biggest challenges for us was getting the porcupine to literally walk. In the first shots, the 500-kilogram doll still had to be pushed. But at some point we got the hang of it," says Executive Producer Anette Unger from Hamburg-based Leitwolf Filmproduktion, which acted as co-producer.
Unlike most other films involving fantasy characters, "Totem" does not use any VFX effects. The porcupine is a real person who controls the animal's functions mechanically and electronically - this type of controlled puppet is called animatronics. "The fact that the film uses animatronics instead of VFX was one of the reasons I made the film. This makes it much easier for the child actress to play scenes, as you can interact with the puppet," reveals Anette Unger. Interesting fun fact on the side: the technology for the movement of the eyes comes from Lucasfilm, the former company of Star Wars inventor George Lucas.
But alongside the porcupine, leading actress Amani-Jean Philippe is at the centre of the film. The Dutch actress had hardly any acting experience before "Totem and I" and was discovered during street casting. In the film, she plays 11-year-old Ama, whose family lives in Rotterdam and originally comes from Senegal. When the family is suddenly deported, Ama runs away - the police are looking for her and Ama in turn is looking for her father. She is supported by her friend Thijs and the aforementioned porcupine. "In Africa, the porcupine symbolises courage. They are also very good swimmers, which is also Ama's passion in the film," says Anette Unger.
The film was shot entirely in Rotterdam over 30 days in December 2021 and January 2022. "Rotterdam is a port city and stands for the coming and going that we address in the film with asylum policy. A current, important and universal topic that also affects around 500,000 people in Germany," says Unger. In the film, the topic of refugee policy merges with African mythology, from which the porcupine is borrowed. Directors and Script Writer Sander Berger himself comes from the Ivory Coast and is familiar with the myths and customs. For example, children are told that they are always accompanied by an animal, a totem. For this reason, the idea of the porcupine quickly came about for "Totem and I".
The film will now celebrate its Hamburg premiere at the MICHEL Filmfest Hamburg (5 October, 4 pm, Studio Kino), having already been shown at numerous international festivals from New York to Amsterdam to Seoul and won several awards. Incidentally, the film's mix and music, for which composer Amaury Bernier used numerous African instruments, was also created in Hamburg. At the MICHEL Filmfest, you can see for yourself how these blend perfectly with the film's magical images. Recommended for children aged eight and over!
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