06/02/2026 - The French sales agent will be pinning its hopes on Anna Roller’s Allegro Pastell and Mahnaz Mohammadi’s Roya in the Panorama section, and on Kosara Mitic’s 17 in the Perspectives line-up

Returning to a major festival where they’ve often met with success in the past (in 2024, for example, thanks to My Favourite Cake [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] and Crossing [+see also:
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interview: Levan Akin
film profile]), French international sales agent Totem Films will be approaching the European Film Market (running 12 – 18 February) - unspooling within the 76th Berlinale - with bags of optimism. Their line-up includes no fewer than three titles selected in various showcases across the festival: Allegro Pastell [+see also:
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interview: Anna Roller
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interview: Mahnaz Mohammadi
film profile] by Iran’s Mahnaz Mohammadi are set to world premiere in the Panorama line-up, while 17 [+see also:
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interview: Kosara Mitić
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Anna Roller’s second feature film after Dead Girls Dancing [+see also:
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interview: Katarina Stark
film profile] (in competition in Tribeca in 2003), Allegro Pastell is toplined by Sylvaine Faligant (in her first big screen appearance) and Jannis Niewöhner (a European Film Promotion Shooting Star of 2015 and notably acclaimed in Je suis Karl [+see also:
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interview: Christian Schwochow
film profile]). Penned by Leif Randt, the story revolves around novelist Tanja and web designer Jérôme, both in their thirties, who have found the perfect balance of intimacy and separation in their long-distance relationship. When Tanja catches a glimpse of their settled future together, she wonders whether it’s really what she wants… Production was steered by Munich-based firm Walker + Worm Film.

Totem Films’ second asset in the Panorama line-up is Roya by Iranian filmmaker Mahnaz Mohammadi (who’s been imprisoned a number of times in her homeland since 2007 and whose back-catalogue notably includes Son-Mother [+see also:
trailer
film profile]). The cast stars Turkey’s Melisa Sözen (Winter Sleep [+see also:
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interview: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
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No stranger to unearthing new talent, Totem Films is also in on the action in the Perspectives competition thanks to 17, the debut feature film by North Macedonia’s Kosara Mitic who wrote the screenplay with Ognjen Svilicic. The story follows 17-year-old Sara who’s hiding a secret on a school trip. When things degenerate and Sara witnesses a sexual assault on a classmate, she and this young woman forge a bond which will last forever… Eva Kostić and Martina Danilovska steal focus in the cast. Production was entrusted to Black Cat Production (Macedonia) in co-production with Art & Popcorn (Serbia) and December (Slovenia).

Last but not least, the Totem team led by Bérénice Vincent will be pre-selling Emma Doucet by Élise Girard (Sidonie in Japan [+see also:
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interview: Élise Girard
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(Translated from French)