Cineuropa sat down with Sander Burger, director of Totem [+lire aussi :
interview : Sander Burger
fiche film]. During our conversation, we spoke about the making of this latest project, which revolves around Ama (Amani-Jean Philippe), a determined young swimmer who, alongside her best friend Thijs (Ole van Hoogdalem), works to prepare for their upcoming championships. Despite being raised by Senegalese parents in the Netherlands, Ama identifies as Dutch and doesn’t think much about her heritage. When her family is suddenly faced with deportation and her mother and younger brother are arrested, Ama roams the streets of Rotterdam searching for her father, unexpectedly bumping into her totem animal, a lovely giant porcupine. We spoke to Burger ahead of the screening planned at the Giffoni Film Festival (20-29 July), one of Europe’s largest children and youth film festivals.

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Cineuropa: How did you start working on Totem?
Sander Burger: The idea was already in my head quite a long time ago. Actually, it started off as a documentary. At that time I lived in Rotterdam, and I had read this article that stated there were 40,000 illegal immigrants living in the city. It’s a port city, so it makes sense, but I still was wondering: wow, where do these people live? Where do they work? I began researching and, of course, it was quite difficult. I couldn’t get people talking in front of the camera. But I spoke a lot to them and I found out that, just like in my movie, the children of illegal immigrants are allowed to go to school. And I thought it was something to work with, the fact that you’re not allowed to be here, but you’re allowed to go to school. Because of privacy reasons, the documentary didn’t work out, so I started thinking about a child going to school in Holland, and the story pretty much evolved all along. And, I really love porcupines because they’re so ‘graphic’ with their black and white spines, and the fact you’ve got this animal with a very cute face. It’s a very good combination. Of course, that’d be a fantasy tale, so let’s make it really big, so it’s obvious for everyone it’s not a real porcupine.

Why did you decide to focus on a family from Senegal? Why this specific background?
I was born in the Ivory Coast, my father used to work there. I didn’t grow up there, but I lived there as a child. My parents were really fond of West Africa, so it’s a big part of me. I feel very connected, it was my birthplace.

So you decided to pick a country from that area…
I wanted a country that wasn’t at war because, of course, when you choose a country like Syria, people are more open. I really wanted to work with this subject of people who come here not from war zones, but because they want a better future for their children. Look at what’s happening in your country [the interviewer is Italian, ed.] and everywhere in Europe... It’s a major issue we have to deal with. I’m not a prophet, I don’t have any answers, I think it’s just essential we never forget we’re talking about human beings. The moment you talk about numbers, you dehumanise people... I could have chosen to make a movie for grown-ups, but I really wanted to make this complicated matter accessible to children — and their parents as well.

How did you cast Ama?
I think this is a cliche that every director tells when you work with children. For me, when Amani walked in — her name was already a coincidence — I knew she was the one. It was so obvious: the way she presented herself, she was really comfortable. We had already decided to shoot with very wide lenses so we could really use the city buildings, and we had to be very close to our subject. For trained actors, that’s already difficult; for a child, it’s even more difficult. The camera was really close, in front of her face. During the casting I already had this camera and I put it like 20 cm away from her face. We shot her and she didn’t think about the camera, she was completely natural... If you cast a child, you don’t cast an actor. You cast someone very close to the character you had in mind. It’s the director’s task to make them understand the story, and make them feel comfortable so that she feels completely free to do whatever she has to do! I was really lucky since she walked in on the second casting day.

How many children did you audition for the role?
I auditioned during COVID, so we auditioned a lot via video, and we saw 150 children. Then I did a preselection of about eight children, and she was one of them.

How did your documentary background affect the making of the film and the way you deal with children on set?
Every documentary maker aims for the core — the facts, you want to get truthful material... That’s one thing. This is not a documentary but we’ve shot a lot down the streets with this child [Ama], we had to improvise a lot... Having a documentary background helped a lot there. And the DoP I worked with [Sal Kroonenberg], I’ve made lots of documentaries with him, so we’re very used to adjusting to situations very fast. I’m a storyteller, sometimes it’s better to tell stories as fiction, sometimes as a documentary, sometimes I put them together... For instance, I made a series where I combined fiction and documentary... Whatever is worth telling!