Said to represent luck and overall good fortune in the Chinese zodiac, but often used as a symbol of greed and gluttony in modern day narratives, the pig has become somewhat of an enigma in popular culture. From Animal Farm to Babe, storytellers cast the swine as contrasting characters in their plots, with Spanish-born filmmaker Iria Lopez the latest to set a porky protagonist at the heart of her (corkscrew) tale. Set to surprise audiences with its stirring storyline and knockout visuals, Jamon seemed like a perfect match for Short of the Week.

Centred around themes of identity and acceptance, López’s narrative orbits around José – a teenage pig living with his human family in a Spanish town. As the only trottered member of his family, José struggles to perform some of the simplest tasks carried out by the five-fingered hands of his parents and sibling, but it’s his place in society that provides López’s principal character with his biggest struggles. Reluctant to embrace his swine instincts, it takes an encounter with another of his kind before he can truly face up to the realities of his existence and even then things don’t work out quite how José would have hoped.

Created whilst studying for her MA in Animation Direction at the National Film and Television School in 2012, her graduation film sees López tackle her meatiest narrative yet. After developing her style working on a few shorter films and music videos of her own and as a colour artist and animation assistant on fellow NFTS shorts Damned and El Macho, Jamon provides the director/animator/illustrator with the chance to truly showcase her talents. However, it’s not just Jamon’s charming aesthetic that pleases, as it’s in López’s emotive storyline where the film really takes hold. Despite focusing her plot on an animal often shadowed in negative stereotypes, the filmmaker attributes some complex feelings to her snout-nosed antihero and by the time Jamon reaches its surprisingly powerful conclusion, you find yourself deeply involved in José’s journey…and for me, this is what storytelling is all about.