Serafima Serafimova
It seems like a lifetime ago that I first met Joseph Wallace. At a film festival, back in 2018, he told me about his hugely ambitious passion project that explored xenophobia and the refugee crisis, something he had already been developing on and off for a few years. I distinctly remember thinking two things – that he was one of the kindest and most humble filmmakers I’d ever met, and that this mammoth undertaking of his would never get made. Yet here we are, five years, a Trump presidency, a Brexit vote and a global pandemic later, Salvation Has No Name is finally out and I have never been happier to be proven wrong.
Written and directed by Wallace and produced by S/W regular Loran Dunn (Lambing Season, Marina and Adrienne, The Pig Child) Salvation Has No Name is a masterclass in the art of stop motion animation and storytelling, capturing the audience’s attention with every meticulously handcrafted frame and captivating our hearts with its compelling narrative. It’s a timely, cautionary tale that questions the right we have to tell other people’s stories and demonstrates that perception is easily swayed by the biases of unreliable narrators. And whilst Salvation Has No Name unearths some uncomfortably close to home truths, at its heart, it’s a story of hope that the voices which have been silenced for so long can finally be heard.
A troupe of clowns are at the centre of Joseph Wallace’s story.
The story begins with a troupe of clowns who gather on stage to perform a story about a devout priest whose faith is tested by a mysterious foreign woman who washed up on their shores. Her mere presence unsettles the peaceful parish and after a lice infestation, undoubtedly brought on by her arrival, they decide to banish her. But the kind priest takes pity on the refugee and sends her back to his chapel instead, where he discovers that she is with child. Soon the worlds of the tale and the storytellers come crashing together as the woman breaks out of the narrative to tell her own story, a vastly different tale to that of the clowns, one of discrimination and cruelty.
Featuring an all-female voice cast, including Itziar Ituño (Money Heist) and Yasmine Al Massri, the 16-minute film was inspired by the Mediterranean refugee crisis in southern Europe and its link to the rise of right-wing nationalism and xenophobia. The tone and the visuals in turn, were inspired by black and white photography, early European cinema, Sub-Saharan African art and Eastern European animation. “We wanted to make a film which, ultimately, would move people”, Wallace shared with S/W. “It’s a delicate story about polarising themes but animation lends itself to metaphorical storytelling and being able to hold a mirror up to society. There was a desire to make a film which would enable debate and discussion and we didn’t want the film to be didactic or preachy, we wanted it to work on several levels and to leave space for the audience to draw their own conclusions.”
“The main story is told in puppet animation and the cut out animation is used for internal though processes, memory, flashback, dreams and desires” – Director Wallace discusses his aesthetic
Wallace has proven time and time again that stop motion animation can be so much more than a vehicle for the whimsical and fantastical. And while it features comical characters with oddly shaped heads and high pitched voices, Salvation Has No Name uses stop-motion to heighten a harrowing realism and the director has utilised his tools to maximum effect, elevating the film to a whole new level of filmmaking.
“For me, the medium of stop motion animation is perhaps one of the purest forms of animation”, Wallace explains as we discuss his production. “You can’t help but feel the soul of the artist, where every frame has been crafted, every gesture examined, every puppet willed to life.” The director’s personal expression, passion and persistent dedication, both to the medium and the subject matter, are palpable in Salvation Has No Name, cementing Wallace’s name in short film history and making his film an instant classic.