Mexico’s Lila Aviles on Her Second Pic ‘Totem’ and Searching for the ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Family Drama

Anna Marie de la Fuente
·3 min read

Representing Mexico once more at the Oscars with her second film, “Totem,” Lila Avilés has proven that the critical success of her debut feature, “The Chambermaid,” was not a fluke.

The former actress, who worked in virtually all areas of film production and directed theater before venturing into filmmaking, has been hailed as part of the new wave of female talent shaping Mexican cinema. “Since I was a little girl, I always loved writing, creating my plays. And obviously, I’ve always had a fixation with photography. I hope to hold an exhibition someday, too,” she says.

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Aside from racking up a slew of accolades since its world premiere at the Berlinale, “Totem” has been selected by the Independent Spirit Awards as one of five major contenders for its international film category.

Unlike the quiet, almost minimalist “The Chambermaid,” “Totem,” which Avilés also wrote, has a chaotic feel as it portrays a family of adult siblings as they rush about preparing a birthday party for their brother, Tona (Mateo Garcia), who is terminally ill. The heart and soul of the film is Tona’s 7-year-old daughter, Sol (played by newbie Naíma Sentíes), who can’t understand why her father won’t see her and why no one gives her a clear answer. But as the day unfolds, he finally receives and embraces her, the fiesta turns into a kind of memorial and the truth becomes painfully sharp to her.

The meaning of the title “Totem” is somewhat open to interpretation, Avilés tells Variety, who added that the story is based on a personal experience. “People approach me and tell me a range of possibilities of what they understood about the totem, and that seems extraordinary to me,” she said.

“What I was trying to do with this movie is also talk a bit about my country, about life, about the diversity of many things,” she says, adding: “Families have their share of chaos. It’s our chaos, our somewhat peculiar way of being, and I think that’s where its beauty lies, right?”

Working with a non-pro like Sentíes and the other young newbie, Saori Gurza, who plays Sol’s cousin, posed its own set of challenges. Gabriela Cartol, the lead in “The Chambermaid,” became her closest ally, helping Avilés with the casting of the two young girls. “When I met Naíma, I loved the feeling I had being near her. We could talk for hours about many things and be completely comfortable, and with Saori, I was laughing all the time,” says Avilés who lists among her inspirations Agnès Varda, John Cassavetes, Lucrecia Martel, Werner Herzog and Jane Campion, among many others.

“Filmmaking is a constant battle with time but with the girls, we had to go with the flow, giving time to both of them, and especially to Naima, as we guided and learned from each other,” she notes.

When accepting her multiple awards at the Morelia Film Festival in Mexico, Avilés dedicated them to Sentíes, her “chiquitótem,” her little totem, whom she said she sought telepathically until she found her.

Asked how she’d feel about getting nominated, Avilés responds: “That would be total joy; It would help me so much on my journey, my dream to make films in many parts of the world.”

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