The Cinematheque celebrates Lila Avilés's The Chambermaid and Totém in double bill, February 2 to 17

Rising Mexican filmmaker is attracting buzz for richly written characters and atmospheric use of camera and sound

The Cinematheque presents Lila Avilés × 2 from February 2 to 17

SET IN A SPRAWLING, CLUTTERED house during preparations for her father’s birthday, Mexican writer-director Lila Avilés Totém is a moving film about a seven-year-old’s budding awareness of mortality. Her father, it turns out, is gravely ill.

The buzzed-about, self-taught filmmaker received huge critical praise for her 2019 debut feature, The Chambermaid—an achingly astute portrait of a young woman working in one of Mexico City’s posh hotels. Now The Cinematheque, hosting the Vancouver debut of Totém, is calling it “our pick for the strongest under-the-radar festival premiere of 2023”.

Bathed in emotion, the film is full of vivid metaphorical wonder. There is a parade of parrots, ants, dogs, and a kitten, plus the portentous appearance of a raptor. There are brief excursions in spirituality, and repeated eruptions of fire. But at the centre of it all is a loving family’s attempts at normalcy and celebration in the face of aching loss.

Richly written characters, atmospheric use of camera and sound, and authentic emotion underlaid with an acute eye toward social systems: consider The Cinematheque's double bill an important local introduction to an exciting new voice in film.

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Janet Smith

Janet Smith is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.

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