From March 9 to 31, discover the diversity of the French-speaking world via a selection of long and short films screened in original version with French and Chinese subtitles.

Swiss film: ‘Ma Vie de Courgette’ 

Synopsis: 

Courgette (or Zucchini) is an intriguing nickname for a 9-year-old boy. After his mother’s sudden death, Courgette is befriended by a kind police officer, Raymond, who accompanies the boy to his new foster home filled with other orphans his age. Courgette struggles at first to find his place in this strange, at times hostile, environment. Yet with Raymond’s help and his newfound friends, he eventually learns to trust, find true love and at last a new family of his own. Director Claude Barras tackles a difficult subject matter beautifully in the stop-motion animated film.

Director, Claude Barras

Before directing his first feature film, Ma Vie de Courgette, Claude Barras directed several short films including The Genie in a Ravioli Can, which received numerous of awards in film festivals around the world. Claude Barras’ unique connection with childhood transcends time and age differences; he has the rare gift of being able to make you laugh and cry at the same time. His stories are filled with realism and fantasy, humor and poetry. He was the impetus for adapting Gilles Paris’ Autobiography of a Courgette into a stop-motion animation film.

Director’s statement

I fell in love with Gilles Paris’ book, Autobiography of a Courgette, a tender and poetic coming of age story. The story and its tone brought me back to my childhood and reminded me of my first emotional flutters as a moviegoer watching films such as The 400 Blows, Nobody’s Boy: Remi, Belle and Sebastian, Heidi, and even Bambi. With this animated film adaptation, I wanted to share with today’s public a bit of these wondrous and formative emotions that have nurtured and shaped my experience.

But this film is also, and above all, a homage to neglected and mistreated children who do the best they can to survive and live with their wounds. Courgette, our hero, has been through many difficult times and, after having lost his mother, he believes he is alone in the world. That was without counting on the people he would meet in his new life in the foster care center: having a group of friends you can rely on, falling in love, and why not even being happy one day? He still has many things to learn in life. It is this message, at once simple and profound, that seemed essential to convey to our children. And the wish to share this message was what guided me during the course of directing the film.

Agenda

With director Claude Barras: in Beijing on March 9 and 10