Human Rights Arts and Film Festival 2019 – Taboo
After witnessing the local priest abuse his power, Sofia attempts to convince her devout Catholic family to act.
Interview with Writer/Director Olivia Altavilla and Writer/Producer Claudia Altavilla
Watch Taboo here:
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Growing up I was raised Catholic. I went to Catholic schooling, completed all my sacraments and for the most part I really enjoyed being part of the community that came with it. Something I found strange from a young age was that my Dad avoided coming to mass as much as he could, he would sit in the car during our cousin's sacraments and he almost never came to a school mass.
The older I got the more I questioned my Dad and he eventually revealed why he didn’t like going. Growing up many of dad’s classmates fell victim to sexual abuse at the hands of his local priest, Father Glennon. He saw first hand it derails their lives and he watched in quiet disbelief as his community didn’t do anything about it.
I made this film for my Dad and the community of people who suffered in silence.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
It explores a darker part of Victoria’s history that for a long time wasn’t spoken about. In light of the George Pell conviction, I think this film provides insight into what it was like for the community of people who suspected what was happening but felt restricted to act. For many like my family who migrated here from Italy in the ’50s with no one, the Church was where they could connect and feel a part of something. Taboo attempts to explore this inner conflict through the characters, Toni and Lina.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
The universal theme of Religion is explored throughout the film as we follow a teenage girl questioning her faith as she uncovers the truth. On a personal level, this somewhat mirrors my own questioning of my faith. Learning about all the horrific things my family have endured at the hands of the Catholic Institution makes it hard to ever truly devote myself.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The film was heavily inspired by not only my Dad’s but other people’s personal recounts of their childhood growing up in a Catholic community. The more I spoke to people about their own experiences the more the script evolved.
The script was even evolving on the drive to one of the locations. We weren’t sold on the current scripted dialogue for a specific scene which was mainly in English. Knowing our actor Val could speak Italian, we decided to rewrite his dialogue to be in the Italian language to enhance the authenticity of the performance.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
So far the feedback has been really positive which is amazing for us. However, the feedback that warms my heart the most is from those who reach out to talk about the similar situation they were in growing up.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
The feedback that has surprised us the most is people telling us to make it a feature film. It did cross our minds when writing it because we had to cut so many scenes, but it’s cool to hear that it’s something people would want to see.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
More people knowing it’s out there, especially those who the story could really resonate with.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We would love to have journalists on board to help expand the films reach.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I hope this film can continue to spark conversation on the topic of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. It opened up a difficult conversation for my family and I hope it can do the same for others.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
How did so many cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church go swept under the rug for so long?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
We are currently developing a new short film script called In Light that we hope to make later this year. We're also in the early stages of drafting a feature-length script of Taboo.
Interview: May 2019
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Taboo
After witnessing the local priest abuse his power, Sofia attempts to convince her devout Catholic family to act.
Length: 14:00
Director: Olivia Altavilla
Producer: Manni Wu and Claudia Altavilla
Writer: Olivia Altavilla and Claudia Altavilla
Key cast: Pippa Van Wijck (Sofia), Dary Halliday (Gabriel), Val Athanassiou (Toni), Marissa O'Reilly (Lina)
Looking for: film festival directors, journalists, distributors
Facebook: Taboo
Instagram: @tabooshortfilm
Hashtags used: #tabooshortfilm #vca
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Human Rights Arts and Film Festival/ ACMI - Monday the 13th of May 2019 at 6pm