Folk horror always plays well at FrightFest and this year we've a truly stunning piece from writer/director Parish Malfitano. Here he chats about Salt Along the Tongue.
NYX: After the success of your debut feature, BLOODSHOT HEART, was there much pressure on you to deliver for this one?
PM: Only the pressure I placed on myself. Bloodshot Heart had a successful festival run, but it occurred at the worst time, during COVID. Therefore mostly everything was online, and not being able to attend these festivals in person and experience the usual engagement made it difficult to find a legitimate team and home for the film. This had a ripple effect because I wasn’t really able to use any success from Bloodshot Heart to my advantage for my next feature. It was a reality check, as the doors didn’t open in the way I thought they would. I didn’t think I would have to make my second feature in a similar way to my first, on an incredibly low budget with lots of favours. Therefore, in a sense, I was back to square one with figuring out how to make my next feature. Ultimately, I had to tell this story, as all the work I make is an exorcism of the self, so I had to get it out of me. I definitely wanted to prove something to myself. I didn’t recognise the person that made Bloodshot Heart. I was responding to who
NYX: Where did the idea for Salt Along the Tongue come from?
PM: It’s difficult to pinpoint where any ideas come from. They just seem to float around me, scribbled in my notebook I always keep with me in my pocket, until something takes hold subconsciously that I start dreaming about when asleep and awake. I knew that I wanted to tell a story about witches and food as a form of possession. But like anything I do, it had to be personal. Although told through the veneer of the supernatural with allusions to witches and ghosts, the story draws on my mother’s experience of being wrongly ostracised by her own family for speaking her truth; I wanted to navigate how the ‘truth’ has had a profound impact on my life. There have been a lot of experiences in my life where I have seen the consequences of both telling the truth and withholding it, shaping me as a person. But in the end, it’s all we have: the truth we tell ourselves and the one we give back to people. I knew that the idea at least had to be centred around truth and belief. I also remember when I was younger, my Nonna would recount a tale of superstition: a neighbour, feeling spurned by her, cursed her by piercing a lemon with needles and leaving it beneath a tree. As the lemon decayed, my grandmother fell ill. Only upon seeking forgiveness did her health gradually return. What struck me most about this story wasn’t the debate over its supernatural credibility or the notion of the malocchio (evil eye), but rather the profound influence our beliefs can wield over us. I firmly believe my grandmother got sick because of the intensity of her convictions. I drew from a lot that was deeply personal, and honestly, what are you doing as a filmmaker if you’re not?
NYX: Did it take long to get right and was it written with a cast in mind?
PM: I still don’t know if I got it right. I lost that level of perception once the film was finished, but it feels true and meaningful, so I guess that’s all I can hope for. It was a long process of figuring out the story and the script. Usually my process is that I buy the same brand of notebook, fill that out with notes, pictures, drawings, paintings, and a bunch of other things that only an exegete or detective could decipher. Then once the book is full, I know the idea is worth pursuing, and it’s time to start writing the treatment and then the script. That was months of work during the first COVID lockdown. At the time, the government in Australia paid people to stay home, so I thought, well, for once, I can act as if I’m getting paid to write, so that’s what I did. I usually try not to write with people in mind, but for the dual character of Mina/Carol, I couldn’t get Dina Panozzo (she plays the mother in Bloodshot Heart) out of my head. I just knew that she had the right qualities and incredible talent. And she’s also like another mother to me, so our relationship is beautifully tumultuous but full of love. When I was completing drafts of the script, I saw some images on socials of Laneikka Denne for a play she had written and was starring in, and I thought she had a Sissy Spacek quality to her. I saw the play, got the script to Laneikka, hung out with her, listened to her thoughts, essentially cast her as Mattia more than a year out from production before I even knew how to get the film off the ground, and never auditioned anyone else. Having her in my head informed all future drafts of the script.
NYX: Did you have to research into curses and such things?
PM: Growing up in an Italian household, superstition has always been present. The belief particularly in the malocchio, the notion that someone can inflict ill will against you through a look or something they say, especially if what they say is positive, is still something that affects me today, despite not really believing it. However, as the film explores, I think our beliefs in these things have great power that takes hold of us and makes these “unreal” things tangible with real consequence. Very early on in the process, I did a lot of readings on witches. One particular research paper that had an effect on me was its analysis of how the idea of witches was manufactured by the patriarchy for capitalist gain and control. This is one of the reasons I chose to have only women in the film, as a way of exploring the invisible force that has influenced the women within the story. I did a lot of research on different superstitious beliefs around the world. The unifying thread that seems to have been the inception for so many beliefs is fear of the unknown.
NYX: It’s a real slow-burner, developing the intricate relationships between the main characters with care and thought, was this difficult to achieve?
PM: Yes, it was difficult, but once I had my actors involved, their input was crucial, especially from Laneikka Denne, Dina Panozzo, and Mayu Iwasaki, who plays Yuma. I worked out in-depth backstories and provided all my key cast with this info, as well as music playlists of what they would be listening to and links to specific films that I felt connected to their characters. If they wanted, they could use this research or not; I didn’t enforce it. I had long discussions, especially with Dina and Laneikka at Dina’s place, as we ate all the cheese, bread, and croissants Dina provided for us. The eating and just hanging out together was the most important part for me. There needed to be a sense of family. What was crucial for me, and still is, is to get a feeling of family and familiarity between the actors. Without that mutual trust and respect between the actors, crew, and me, everything just collapses. On set, it was important to me and my producers for the majority of HODs to be female, as well as the crew. Being surrounded by women during pre-production and into production helped reflect what was onscreen behind the scenes and imbued the film with an essence that feels loving and complex. I also need to mention our intimacy coordinator and wellbeing officer, Trish Speers, who was the self-proclaimed mother of the set. Having her there meant that people felt cared for and listened to. The reason I mention this is that it all helped to make sure that the relationships between the actors and characters were the primary focus.
NYX: Was it all shot on location?
PM: Everything was shot on location in and around Sydney, except for the sonographer and hospital scenes, which were shot literally next to each other in a studio (which was also our gaffer’s storage area, where he kept his gear) on the same day. One set was painted green, the other pink, by my excellent production designer Thom Muir and his team. The main house in the film, located in North Sydney, is actually Thom’s parents’ place, and again, because they are so supportive, we were able to take it over for a few weeks. Otherwise, all of the locations we were lucky enough to get without cost because of the generosity of people. This film was made for barely anything, with no government support, just the bit of money I saved working at a bar, and my producer Daniel Pollock’s great prowess at finding pockets of private equity wherever he could. This meant we were reliant on being resourceful.
NYX: There are some amazing, subtle effects on show, which one was the hardest to achieve?
PM: It was important to me that everything was practical and VFX would only be used to remove and enhance. Every effect had its little issue to resolve, but from what I can remember, there’s a scene in the bowling alley where Carol bleeds from her pants, and because of the material of the pants and the blood, we just couldn’t get it to work like I wanted. It’s always the simplest things that end up being the most difficult. As with everything with this film, we just had to find a solution and move on.
NYX: The delicate score really becomes an invisible character in the movie; will it get a physical release?
PM: Working with my composer Ola Turkiewicz was one of the best experiences of making this film. She also did the score for Bloodshot Heart. She is an incredible Polish composer and captures the soul of this story beautifully. The score was inspired by a lot of Polish music and cinema, which Ola was very happy I knew so much about, so it only made sense that my composer be Polish as well. There’s a certain quality to music from that region that is subtly unique. When I think about it, the film does have an Eastern European flavour to it. I would love a physical release! So many films I’ve discovered throughout my life have been because of the soundtracks I have listened to first. I am a big collector of vinyl, primarily for film scores. Her score is probably the only aspect of the film that I can listen to and enjoy objectively, so I want that score on vinyl as soon as possible! Her incredible work deserves to be listened to separately from the film, and I hope it will be.
NYX: Are you a fan of the folk horror genre?
PM: I love folk horror. The British especially, as well as the Italian. However, I didn’t so much draw on inspiration from any folk horror films for this. Filmmakers like Pedro Almodóvar, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Robert Altman and Céline Sciamma had more of a significant impact. I really wasn’t trying to make a horror, or at least I was more so in the European rather than American sense of the word, where the horror is internal rather than external. It’s funny, I remember, on set my production designer Thom would jokingly say that “everyone else is making a horror!” but me.
NYX: What’s your favourite meal?
PM: It’s got to be tuna pasta. Growing up, every Sunday without fail, we would go to my Nonno and Nonna’s for pasta, or we would enjoy Mum’s. But now, I continue the tradition and make my own. Basil passata, Italian tuna, black Sicilian olives, garlic bread, and of course, a glass of vino. What more could you want? It’s my own personal church, and the only thing that stops me going insane.
NYX: Do you believe in the paranormal, witchcraft etc?
PM: I’ve never seen a ghost, but it’s a big fear of mine that I will, and then I’ll have to learn to live with it like some sort of 90s sitcom. Actually, I recently moved to London this year, and for some reason I think there would be more ghosts here, probably because of the literature on the paranormal and the stories I’ve heard. I’m yet to see one, but now that I’ve said that, I bet I will… I just hope it’s a nice ghost, like Casper. Send me Casper the friendly ghost please. I’ve never really dived into the world of witchcraft other than the research for this film and through cinema and literature, maybe it’s my Catholic upbringing, and the residual guilt of that, but I’m cautious of inviting it in.
NYX: So, what are you working on at the moment?
PM: I’m working on two features, both body horrors set in Europe. The first, The House Man of Bellwick. This script is finished and leans very heavily in the British folk genre, and the other is a supernatural body horror titled Lipstick Cockroach, set between the UK and Sicily within the giallo genre, for which I’m just starting the script. But unlike Salt Along the Tongue, both are very much within the horror genre, in very ambitious and hopefully new ways.
NYX: Parish Malfitano, thank you very much.
