Totem Reveals Production Slate

Paris-based international sales and production company Totem Films has revealed its production slate, with projects by Nastia Korkia, Vytautas Katkus, Ernst de Geer and Anna Roller.

Totem Atelier, the development and production arm of the company, has revealed that it has boarded Korkia’s “A Short Summer.”

Korkia’s short documentary “Dreams About Putin” premiered at IDFA last year. Her first documentary feature “GES-2” premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2021.

“A Short Summer” is produced by Germany’s TamTam, which produced Albert Serra’s “Pacifiction,” and Serbia’s Art&Popcorn.

The film centers on eight-year-old Katya, who is going on vacation with her grandparents. In the summer heat, the war in Chechnya takes shape, while her grandparents’ relationship falls apart. Despite her youth, Katya wants to look at the world straight in the eyes.

“A Short Summer” has received support from Creative Europe MEDIA, BKM, Moin, CNC Aide au Cinémas du Monde, Ile de France and French-German Mini-Traité.

Shooting should start this summer.

Totem Atelier is also developing “The Visitor,” the first feature by Katkus, winner of awards at Cannes Critics’ Week Next Step in 2022, Les Arcs Coproduction Village in 2022, and Torino Film Lab in 2023. It is co-written with Marija Kavtaradze, the writer-director of Sundance winner “Slow.”

In the film, 30-year-old Danielius returns to his hometown following his dad’s death. He plans to sell his parents’ apartment, but his visit takes longer than expected as he, having nowhere to rush to, attempts to reconnect with the people from the old days and the town that’s no longer his.

Lithuania’s M-Films is the production company. The project is supported by Lithuanian Film Centre, Creative Europe MEDIA and Lithuanian National Radio and Television.

Totem Atelier continues to work with the filmmakers discovered on their first feature.

These include De Geer, whose satire “The Hypnosis” was in the main competition at Karlovy Vary Film Festival. He just got selected for the Cannes La Résidence Cinéma de Demain and is developing his next feature.

Totem Atelier is also working with Roller, the writer-director of “Dead Girls Dancing,” on “Manatee.” The film is co-written by Mireya Heider de Jahnsen, who notably works with Erika Lust.

Totem recently brought together the directors and writers of the projects it is developing to take part in a scriptwriting workshop, Script Circle, in Berlin, led by consultants Françoise von Roy and Franz Rodenkirchen.

Totem partners Bérénice Vincent and Laure Parleani said that the production companies they are working with, Garagefilm, TamTam and Kalekone, were “enthusiastic about this collaborative idea, so were the directors and scriptwriters.” They added: “It is very nurturing to have a mix of different personalities, countries and backgrounds. It is challenging for the creative process, and such international blend is at the core of Totem’s tribe.”