Savages – stop-motion social justice story that highlights the real savages ravaging the Borneo jungle (Queen’s Film Theatre from 1 August)

The animated story Savages (French: Sauvages) begins with little Kéria’s father rescuing an orphaned baby orangutan (named Oshi) when its mother is killed. The incident unexpectedly reconnects 11-year-old Kéria with her extended family (the nomadic Penan people in Borneo) living nearby in the forest behind her father’s employer’s plant. Urban Kéria and her younger jungle cousin Selaï form an unlikely surrogate parent unit, caring for Oshi who runs off into the woods. A further incursion into the forest community – backed by police collusion – triggers a standoff and Kéria finds herself at the centre of mounting a fightback.

At one level, Savages is a tale about commercial logging and the palm oil industry that threatens indigenous communities who live in Borneo forests. Deeper themes neatly explore the non-binary nature of modernisation and the complexities of how family dynamics adapt when people leave/flee the coup and how no one has a monopoly on wisdom. And also how people can end up with little choice but to capitulate to their aggressors: Kéria’s father works for the company – the real savages of this film – who you’ll discover so tragically impacted her family.

The story’s resolution is simplistic, although it highlights the role and value in amplifying the voices of people who are under threat. The backdrop is beautiful and there’s a real playfulness with how the locations support the storytelling. The style of stop-motion animation will be familiar to anyone who enjoyed Claude Barras feature debut My Life as a Courgette (“… as a Zucchini” for those in the US!) Long may Barras continue to bring social justice issues to the silver screen in accessible ways.

Savages is being screened in the Queen’s Film Theatre from Friday 1 August. Early screenings each day are showing the English dub, with the original French version is on each evening. You’ll notice in both versions that the Penan language isn’t subtitled as Kéria can’t understand her family’s mother tongue.

 

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