“Never go to the police.” The father of 11-year-old Ama (Amani-Jean Philippe)has always emphasized this to his daughter. It seems strange advice, but Amais staying illegally in the Netherlands with her parents and brother. For aslong as she can remember.
It’s been going well for years. Ama feels completely Dutch. She is doing wellat school and wants to become a swimming champion. Her Senegalese parents havea job and an apartment in Rotterdam. But an innocent report of flooding causesthe house of cards to collapse: Ama’s mother and brother are taken away by thepolice while her father is at work. She manages to escape just in time. Shecan take shelter with her school friend Thijs, although that is quiteexciting, because Thijs’ mother works for the police.
Totem , the opening film of the Cinekid festival, which starts this week, isa youth film with an adult subject. Director Sander Burger initially wanted tomake a documentary about living in illegality, but dropped that plan again,but in the meantime continued to chew on the theme. A film for children wasonce again something new for Burger, who never seems to sit still andalternates documentaries with fiction — his feature film _The condemnation_was the big winner at the Golden Calves award ceremony last year.
What Totem What sets it apart from other realistic childhood dramas is thepresence of a huge porcupine. The animal suddenly shows up, when the film ison its way for about half an hour. Ama is of course surprised, but resignedlyaccepts that the animal is chasing her through the city. She meets a drifterof African descent who calls himself a griot, a West African storyteller orsinger. He explains to her that the porcupine is her totem animal: herspiritual support and refuge.
The porcupine (no computer animation, but a real built animal with numeroussensors and space for a puppeteer inside) makes the otherwise somewhatpredictable film special. Director Burger and co-screenwriter Bastiaan Tichleralso want to say that it is important to know your cultural background. Ama,who tried so hard to be Dutch, is learning to appreciate her Senegalese roots.
The imperturbable porcupine may steal the show, but protagonist Amani-JeanPhilippe is also a natural. An important role is also reserved for Rotterdam,increasingly the setting for Dutch feature films. Cameraman Sal Kroonenbergshows the city at its best, often in the evening light and with a wide lensthat shows a lot of the surroundings. Less successful is the excessive use ofthe so-called dutch angle, a technique that creates a skewed horizon. It’s arather intrusive way to create tension and alienation. That Ama’s world is outof alignment is also clear without all those skewed lines.