My Life as a Courgette

At first glance, this stop-motion animation appears to be a quirky, brightly coloured children's film. In reality, however, it's a heartbreaking story about a young boy who becomes an orphan after a tragic accident. The boy's name is Icare, but he prefers to be known as Courgette, and he's taken by a kindly police officer to an orphanage, where he bonds with the other children who live there. Director Claude Barras has fashioned eye-catching character designs, which are bold and unusual (Courgette has blue hair and a red nose). Importantly, though, the characters are impressively authentic, as the kids talk and behave like real kids. My Life as a Courgette could be described as slight, given that the running time is just over an hour, but it is a beautiful, heartfelt film that deals with some difficult subjects.