Co-sponsored by the Center for European Studies in partnership with Wisconsin International Resource Consortium and the Wisconsin International Film Festival.
World Cinema Day, a collaboration between UW-Madison’s IRIS and the Wisconsin Film Festival that began in 2004, brings school children and teachers to Madison for the screening of a high-quality, international film with an introduction and post-film discussion led by a member of the UW faculty or staff. This year’s film is Totem.
Plot: Ama, the daughter of Senegalese asylum seekers, feels completely Dutch. When Ama’s mother and brother are arrested, Ama sets off in search of her father through Rotterdam in the middle of winter, hoping to avoid deportation. During this frightening and exciting journey, she discovers her roots, thanks in part to her extraordinary totem animal: a gigantic porcupine.