By Jesse Dixon
Alphabet Lane An isolated couple lose control of a joke about imaginary friends.
JESSE DIXON: James, thank you so much for chatting with me today. This is my first filmmaker interview and I’m so honoured that it’s with the writer and director of a film I ended up really loving, so congrats on the final product. This is your first feature film. When did you know you wanted to be a filmmaker and how did you go about getting into this world?
JAMES LITCHFIELD: I’ve been making shorts for quite a long time. I used to work as a lawyer. And I’d always written a lot of fiction and the started making shorts and writing scripts. Eventually, after a few years of working as a lawyer I was accepted in to BCA. That was over COVID, and then I had the first idea for this script during that time.
JD: In the process of you getting into film, or maybe the process of you coming up with the script for Alphabet Lane, was there a particular film or couple of films that really opened your eyes or inspired you?
JL: David Lynch is a huge influence, not necessarily a direct influence as there isn’t a particular David Lynch movie that this (Alphabet Lane) is similar to, but definitely in terms of opening my eyes as to the shorts of things that are possible. There was a Korean film Burning, directed by Lee Chang-dong which I really loved and that opened my eyes in terms of possibilities around perspective, tone and genre, and aspects of different genres in the same film.
JD: That’s a great pick, that’s a really interesting film. You’ve got a great hook in Alphabet Lane that audiences will cling onto, as I did. Can you tell me about where that idea came from, and what your writing process was like? Was it based on an imaginary friend that you used to have?
JL: It actually wasn’t so much an imaginary friend that I had, there were a few things feeding into it. I had been thinking about couples, coupledom, and I was actually single at the time of writing but I was thinking about how couples often seem to have a third thing in the relationship. A lot of couples will have, for example, a dog that seems to assume a greater significance than just being a dog, it becomes this intermediary between the couple which they can use to communicate. It can be that, or it can often be a shared creative project, or even kids could arguably be that thing that helps couples stay together.
JD: This film is about an inside joke, and my family and I have several inside jokes that we all love, but it can get a bit awkward if we have people over who have no idea what’s so funny or what we’re going on about? Why are inside jokes so important in sustaining relationships, and without spoiling the film is it dangerous to reveal them to outsiders?
JL: Yeah, that is really interesting. It was really nice playing at MIFF last year and there were many people saying a similar thing, like ‘this reminds me of a weird thing that I do with my partner’. The inside jokes thing is interesting because couples are often a mystery to the outside world, they can only really be understood from the inside. Regarding the film, it was important that it started off as a joke, and there was never a point where it stops being a joke, but it does expand and takes on a much greater significance than just being a joke. The best jokes are often unexplained or have this secrecy around them and that keeps them fun.
JD: You’ve got two incredible lead performances from Tilda Cobham-Hervey and Nicholas Denton, was there anything that they brought to the character or improvised that you didn’t write or anticipate, that made it into the final product?
JL: There wasn’t much dialogue that was improvised, but they did bring huge amounts of their creativity and imagination to it. It was very important to stimulate their imagination as much as they could, my approach to working with actors involves them being as creatively engaged as possible. The actual characters themselves are very creative, and they’re inventing this story, this joke, as the film goes on. It made sense to cast them (Cobham-Hervey and Denton) as you could feel just by talking to them how creative they are, and they also just had amazing chemistry.
JD: Definitely, and obviously, they spend a lot of time in the film making up things about Joe and Michelle. Did they make up anything about their own characters, like a backstory, or something like that?
JL: I suppose that’s where some of the improv came in, we would do a lot of improvised preparation work. They came down to Cooma for example and we went to the Cooma rodeo, and used that as a space to discuss how they may have been one of those couples that had a dog and used it as an intermediary, So, in that sense there was a lot of improvisation which was important in building both the characters individually and the rapport between them.
JD: When I was watching the film, I noticed that there were lots of scenes with characters in cars by themselves, either driving or being stationary. And to me, driving alone is one of the most private things you can do, you can yell, swear, say whatever you like. The characters can break, they don’t have to hold the joke. There’s also the fun of being around so many cars, and no one can hear you. Were these moments in the film meant to depict the characters desire for honesty, or maybe the exact opposite?
JL: There’s an element of it that’s just the reality of living in a remote area, I grew up there myself and especially if you live outside of town, you spend a lot of time driving. The imagery of the cars passing the road was helpful in conveying the coming and going, how it shifts in the night, and that sense of isolation. I know what you mean, because when he (Denton) comes up with the joke he sees a man on a horse as he’s sitting in his car, and there’s an implication that he’s had a lot of time to ruminate and muse on this image that leads to the joke. There’s definitely this idea of isolation in the film, there’s negative and positive aspects to isolation for the couple, and those long journeys in the car are important to help communicate that.
JD: I wanted to touch on the technical aspects. I thought the cinematography was just gorgeous, and paired with that beautiful score as well. I understand you shot the film on your family’s farm, is that correct?
JL: Yeah, that’s right.
JD: What was it like, growing up there? It must have made an impression for it to be the location of your directorial debut.
JL: Yeah, I guess I’m just very attached to it. I think it is one of the most beautiful landscapes in Australia and a landscape for me in particular is just so powerful. It’s very beautiful, with naturally treeless, hilly grassland plains. But it’s also really cold a lot of the time, and it’s really windy, and it doesn’t rain very much. It almost had this desert-like mysticality, and I just think that for a story like (Alphabet Lane) about two people in an isolated place, it was just perfect, because it speaks to that dual nature of isolation, the good things and bad things. I think that’s what made me want to shoot there, and my producer Lucinda Reynolds and I would love to make another film there.
JD: I thought it might have been hard to direct a flock of sheep that massive, but it seems like you’ve had some farm experience so it might’ve been easier than I thought?
JL: Yeah, my dad was a very willing and able animal-wrangler which was helpful.
JD: Would you describe your film as more of a love letter to the country, or a cautionary tale about the loneliness associated with moving there? Or both?
JL: I would love for it to be both, but it depends, obviously when you release something you can’t control people’s interpretations but it does definitely depend on people’s experiences. There has been a very satisfying diversity of responses and interpretations from people. We wanted to make something that felt really alive, and I think when you have people responding to it and enjoying it in different ways, that achieved it.
JD: Well, you certainly did. In the film, Joe and Michelle are communicating to Jack and Anna via letters even though they’ve exchanged phone numbers. Is there something romantic about sending or receiving a letter that is now lost in today’s technological takeover?
JL: Yeah, I guess so. Sending a letter or writing anything down stimulates parts of your creativity. It definitely wasn’t a conscious response to the technological world in which we find ourselves, but it must have been in there somewhere as that’s something I’m interested in, and I’m very skeptical, as a lot of people are, of the effects that technology has on our minds and our imagination.
JD: Is there something about the country that ‘disconnects’ you, whether in reality or online, and is that a positive or negative thing?
JL: That is such an interesting question because on the one hand disconnecting from the online world feels very positive, and then disconnecting from the real world is less clearly a good thing But I do think that getting out of the city and into the country does give you perspective on things, which is a good thing. I think those questions being asked is a great response to the film.
JD: You mentioned before that you premiered this film at MIFF. That must have been amazing! What was it like watching your debut feature with a full cinema for the first time?
JL: It was so good! It was really satisfying, and fun to watch it with so many people, hearing them laughing. That was wonderful. The discussions afterwards were the best bit, it was interesting that in one of the Q&A’s a lot of the questions were about how fun it was, and then one person put up his hand and said ‘I don’t know why anyone was laughing I found this incredibly disturbing’. That was really funny, I liked hearing that diversity in response.
JD: Alphabet Lane is coming out in cinemas very shortly, which is very exciting. Who would you recommend that people see this film with? Should they go with their partner? Should they go on a double date, even? What would you recommend?
JL: A double date, I think. There’s quite a fun interaction to be had with another couple who might have a different perspective of what’s going on, and I think that tension between how you present yourself to your friends and how your friends would consider what you would do would be interesting.
JD: What’s next for you, James? Do you have anything upcoming? Anything in the works?
JL: My producer Lucinda and I are in the process of writing and developing a new script, but tin the very short term we’ve got a play at Flight Path Theatre called ‘At Home at the Zoo’ – which features some of the actors in (Alphabet Lane) and is playing from the 20th to the 30th of May.
JD: That’s awesome, that’s so exciting. James, thank you so much for speaking with me, I really appreciate it to hear your insights about the film. And yeah, thank you very much.
JL: Thank you, Jesse.
Alphabet Lane, written and directed by James Litchfield, will be released in Australian cinemas on 23 April, 2026.