Ma vie de Courgette: My Life as a Zucchini

Icare, known as Zucchini, is a quiet boy who loves creating art.  He made a kite with a picture of his father, who left years before, and he uses his alcoholic mother's beer cans to make a tower.  After his mother's death, which he accidentally causes, he is sent to an orphanage.

The other children at the orphanage are also in pain.  They miss their parents, who are in trouble or dead.  Zucchini starts to rebuild his life with the help of Raymond, the police officer who found him, and the other orphans.  Can Zucchini find a family with his new friends?


This film is an adaptation of the 2002 novel "Autobiographie d'une Courgette" by Gilles Paris.  The film was previously adapted as a live-action French television show called C'est mieux la vie guand on est grand in 2007.

This film is a stop-motion animated film that gives the characters large and expressive eyes.  It has a colorful palette and a quirky sensibility, while still conveying deep emotions.  The film is available in it's original French (with subtitles) or an English dubbed version.  The English version has a different cast, and changes the names of some of the characters (such as the main character, Courgette in Frennch and Zucchini in English).

The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Film.  It won several other international animation awards.

My Life as a Zucchini [Ma vie de Courgette] (2016) 66 minutes
Director: Claude Barras
Starring: Gaspard Schlatter as Courgette
Sixtine Murat as Camille
Paulin Jaccoud as Simon
Michel Vuillermoz as Raymond
Paul Ribera as Ahmed
Estelle Hennard as Alice
Elliot Sanchez as Jujube
Lou Wick as Beatrice

[English version]
Erick Abbate as Zucchini
Ness Krell as Camille
Romy Beckman as Simon
Nick Offerman as Raymond
Barry Mitchell as Ahmed
Clara Young as Alice
Finn Robbins as Georgie
Olivia Bucknor as Beatrice
Ellen Page as Rosy