FrightFest 2025 is awash with new talent and Ava Maria Safai is one of the stand-outs. We chatted with her about her new movie Foreigner ahead of its UK premiere.
NYX: Did you know from a young age that you wanted to work in the film industry?
AMS: Not necessarily film, but definitely entertainment. I’ve always loved performing and making things, whatever form that took. My parents are both musicians, so being on stage and collaborating with people was just normal for me. As I got into my tweens, they gifted me a digital camera, and I started filming whatever I could – friends, Barbies, anything. I turned the footage into music videos and Twilight re-enactments on Sony Vegas, and the rest was history!
NYX: Have you always been a horror movie fan?
AMS: Definitely. My mom watched a lot of horror and crime shows on late-night cable at night, so I often watched with her as a kid. I think one of the first ones I ever saw with her was Final Destination. There was also a Rogers down the street from my house, so I would walk there sometimes, and choose my own movies. That’s probably how I came across things like Saw or Requiem for a Dream (which I still consider to be a horror film).
NYX: Where did the idea for Foreigner come from?
AMS: Foreigner was actually born from a grant prompt. Telefilm asked “What does it mean to be Canadian?” and I didn’t really have a clean answer for that, so I just started writing out this story in response to it. It sort of came out as this very hyper-stylized diary, but by the time I landed on about page 10 or so and introduced Yasamin to Rachel, I felt there was something really sinister and compelling in the narrative that drove me to finish it.
NYX: I have two daughters, and I feel this movie will touch on a lot of things they’ve experienced in life such as trying to fit in etc, did you bring anything from your own childhood to this?
AMS: Definitely. Most of it is actually in the set dec and costumes. My production designer and I would have actually loved to go further and pack the movie with things we grew up with like Tamagotchis, Silly Bandz, Peek-a-Poos – but then we realized licensing would’ve been a nightmare, so we worked with what we could. I also used to put on a blonde wig and make music videos on my laptop… so yeah. Definitely pieces of my subconscious in there!
NYX: Did it take long to write?
AMS: I wrote the first draft in a day, and polished it over the weekend. The ending was completely rewritten in post.
NYX: Why did you set it in early 2000s?
AMD: That’s when I grew up! I have very fond memories of the fashion, the music, and tech being more of an accessory rather than a way of communication (i.e. the iPod nano). I also think there just wasn’t as much education then regarding bullying, so people were saying whatever to each other, quite unfiltered. I don’t miss how mean people were, but I do miss a bit of the inherent comedy and camp of it all, so I wanted to bring that back for this movie.
NYX: This is your debut feature. Were you nervous the first day on set?
AMS: Surprisingly, not as much as I thought I would! I’d worked with most of the crew before on shorts, so it felt like a scaled-up version of what we were already used to. Day one was very quiet, I appreciated how calm and focused the team was. They have been really great to work with, from beginning to end.
NYX: What lessons in directing did you learn from making this movie?
AMS: So many. Pre-vis, workshops, dress rehearsals, QC screenings – all of that feedback and revision matters way more than you think going in. One thing critics have made very clear is that the two things they’ll always evaluate are the director and the script. So now, as I’m writing new work, I’m going over literally every thread in the story until I can be happy with / defend every single choice, no matter how small. It’s actually been fun getting back to my roots as a writer first and really digging into the “why” behind every little thing on screen.
NYX: Rose Dehgan delivers an incredible performance here, she’s going to be a huge star, isn’t she?
AMS: I agree. She would certainly deserve it, and I think it’s important that we see more people like her on screen.
NYX: The effects are subtle but effective. Did they take long to get right?
AMS: Thank you! I love invisible effects – for me, less is more. We did most of the big stuff practically, like the floating and the burning car, and just cleaned it up in post. The crowd in the ceremony was also made up of a series of plates we combined, and I’m really proud of how that turned out. The trickiest to do was probably the bug effects, so I’m glad that came together. The effects team had about a month to put everything together, which is really not a lot for the load of work I asked them to do. If I had more money and hours, I’d give it to the effects artists because they worked incredibly hard with very limited resources. Go team!
NYX: Would you agree the moral is “be who you are, not who you think you need to be”?
AMS: Definitely. It’s ultimately meant to be a cautionary tale for tweens and teens — and probably a good reminder for the rest of us too!
NYX: Is the parrot story from your family or made up?
AMS: Made up for the film. It’s not The Ugly Duckling, I swear.
NYX: Do you believe in the paranormal?
AMS: Yes. I’m very superstitious and always have evil eye bracelets on me. Any time things go wrong, I half-jokingly assume I’m being cursed.
NYX: Will you be nervous for the UK premiere at FrightFest?
AMS: Definitely. It’s a very Canadian film — sometimes I think if it were any more Canadian, it would actually be like, a maple leaf or a loonie or something. But I hope the heart of it connects with people no matter where you’re from. I’m sure we have all felt the desire to belong at some point in our lives, and that’s really what this film is about.
NYX: You’re a multi-talented creative. Do you have a favorite job?
AMS: Probably directing from the editor’s chair. I love digging through takes and finding those little magic moments that end up saving the whole scene. Sometimes it’s a blink or a tiny reaction an actor does before I even call “action” that ends up being a perfect response to something another performer is doing. Being able to shape performances like that in post is such a huge part of the storytelling. I also really enjoy getting to do that in a quiet, isolated space before bringing it to others for feedback.
NYX: What’s next for you?
AMS: I’ve enlisted my partner to help me co-write my next feature. It’s about an Uber driver and his family.
NYX: Ava Maria Safai, thank you very much.
