Totem Films

Overview

Totem Films is a Paris-based international sales and production company launched in October 2018 by three founders: sales agents Agathe Valentin and Berenice Vincent, and cinema finance expert Laure Parleani. The company began scouting acquisitions in late 2018 and launched its first slate at the beginning of 2019. Totem operates from 5 Rue de Charonne in the 11th arrondissement of Paris and employs 7 people. The company has two divisions: Totem Films, which handles international sales of acquired and produced titles, and Totem Atelier, which develops and produces early-stage projects with international potential.

Berenice Vincent currently serves as CEO, overseeing acquisitions. The sales team includes Salome Rizk (Festivals and International Sales) and Anna Durand (Business Affairs and Acquisitions). Romain Millon heads technical operations and servicing, with Antoine Catteloin handling finance. The company works with external providers for servicing, legal, and marketing.

Totem's catalog is built around handpicked feature films and documentaries rather than volume acquisitions. The company typically represents 4 to 8 titles per year, selecting films with strong festival credentials and international crossover potential. Totem's focus on emerging directors is a deliberate long-term strategy: by identifying and representing significant voices before they reach broader industry visibility, the company builds filmmaker relationships that can grow across multiple films.

Notable Sales and Festival Track Record

Totem Films' catalog includes films that have premiered across the major festival sections:

• Compartment No. 6 (2021, Juho Kuosmanen) - Cannes Competition, Grand Prix. Vincent previously sold Kuosmanen's The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki to more than 35 territories when she was head of sales at Les Films du Losange. The Totem relationship with Kuosmanen was a founding acquisition for the company.
• My Favourite Cake (2024, Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha) - Berlinale Competition. The film was produced through Totem's relationship with the directors, who had previously been represented internationally by the company.
• Kika (2025, Alexe Poukine) - Cannes Critics' Week. The film sold to Youplanet Pictures (Spain and Portugal), Little Dream Pictures (Germany and Austria), Agora Films (Switzerland), Bestiario Films (Mexico), K-Films Amerique (French-speaking Canada), Estinfilm (Estonia), and Scanorama (Lithuania) after its Cannes premiere.
• Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry (2023, Elene Naveriani) - Cannes Director's Fortnight
• Slow (2023, Marija Kavtaradze) - Sundance
• Crossing (2024, Levan Akin) - Berlinale Panorama
• We (2021, Alice Diop) - Berlinale Documentary Award
• Gagarine (2020, Fanny Liatard and Jeremy Trouilh) - Cannes 2020
• The Village Next to Paradise (2024, Mo Harawe) - Cannes Un Certain Regard
• Sudan, Remember Us (2024, Hind Meddeb) - Venice Giornate degli Autori
• Measures for a Funeral (2024, Sofia Bohdanowicz) - Toronto Centrepiece

Totem Atelier Productions

Totem Atelier develops and produces early-stage projects with strong international potential, creating a pipeline of original content alongside the company's acquisitions. Totem Atelier productions include:

• Short Summer (2025, Nastia Korkia) - Venice Days
• The Hypnosis (2023, Ernst de Geer) - Karlovy Vary, where it won Best Actor, the Fipresci Jury Award, and the Europa Cinemas Label
• Dead Girls Dancing (2023, Anna Roller) - Tribeca
• Marcel! (2022, Jasmine Trinca) - Cannes Official Selection

The Atelier division allows Totem to board projects at the development stage rather than only acquiring finished films. For filmmakers with early-stage projects seeking a sales and production partner, Totem Atelier offers a pathway that combines production financing support with built-in international sales infrastructure.

Documentary and Fiction Balance

Totem maintains a catalog that balances documentary and fiction features. The company attends IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam), CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, and Sheffield DocFest alongside the major fiction festivals (Cannes, Berlinale, Venice, Toronto, Sundance, Karlovy Vary, Locarno). This dual presence gives Totem relationships with both the theatrical arthouse distribution ecosystem and the broadcaster licensing market, which is the primary revenue driver for documentary features internationally.

For documentary filmmakers, Totem's understanding of broadcaster licensing (pre-sales to European public broadcasters, streaming platform deals, and territory-specific documentary distributors) is a distinct advantage over sales agents who treat documentary as secondary to their fiction catalog. The company has sold documentary titles including Sudan, Remember Us (Venice 2024) and We (Berlinale 2021, Documentary Award winner).

What Filmmakers Should Know

Totem Films is a realistic representation target for arthouse fiction directors and documentary filmmakers whose work has strong festival potential. The company's openness to first and second features and its interest in emerging voices make it more accessible than larger, more established Paris sales companies such as Wild Bunch, Memento, or Films Distribution.

Films that have secured Cannes, Berlinale, Venice, Sundance, Toronto, IDFA, or equivalent festival selections are the strongest candidates for Totem representation. The company's Paris base and regular presence at all major festivals and markets give it direct access to the international arthouse distribution network.

For projects in post-production that have not yet premiered, Totem may consider representation based on a rough cut or completed film, depending on the strength of the project and the director's prior work. The company also boards projects at the development stage through Totem Atelier, particularly for filmmakers with a clear international vision and a track record of festival-caliber work.

Totem's deal structures typically involve the company taking international sales rights (excluding the film's country of origin and any pre-sold territories) in exchange for a sales commission. The company does not pay minimum guarantees (MGs) in most cases, as it is a sales agent rather than a distributor. Revenue flows to the producer after the sales commission and any recoupable expenses (deliverables, marketing materials, festival shipping).

For general inquiries, contact hello@totem-films.com. For acquisitions, contact Anna Durand at anna@totem-films.com. For festival and sales inquiries, contact Salome Rizk at salome@totem-films.com.

See Also

For how international sales agents fit into the distribution chain between filmmakers and territory-specific distributors, see Distribution Deals Explained. For how festival premieres drive international sales and territory-by-territory deals, see Streaming vs Theatrical Revenue. To model the revenue from a multi-territory sales strategy, use the Revenue Forecast Calculator. For comparison with other international sales agents in this directory, see the broader Film Distributors Directory.