Stop-motion animated feature My Life as a Zucchini (Ma vie de Courgette), which is the official Swiss submission for the best foreign-language category for the 2017 Academy Awards, has been acquired by indie distributor GKIDS.
GKIDS will qualify the film for awards consideration this fall in other categories, followed by a national theatrical release in 2017. The debut feature from Swiss director Claude Barras, based on a script from Céline Sciamma (writer-director of Girlhood and Tomboy) tells the story of Zucchini, a boy who, after the sudden death of his mother, is accompanied to a foster home by a police officer named Raymond. With Raymond’s help and his newfound friends, Zucchini eventually learns to trust and love.
Since 2008, New York-based GKIDS has scored eight best animated feature Oscar nominations, including mentions earlier this year for Boy and the World and When Marnie Was There.
GKIDS’ 2016 releases include April and the Extraordinary World, from the makers of the Oscar-nominated animated feature Persepolis; Phantom Boy, from the Oscar-nominated writers and directors of A Cat In Paris; and Miss Hokusai, from Japanese animation studio Production I.G, which is set to open Oct. 14 in New York and Los Angeles.
My Life as a Zucchini made its world premiere in the Director’s Fortnight section at the Cannes Film Festival, and went on to win both the Grand Prize and the Audience Award at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. It also is scheduled to play at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival, in the TIFF Kids section.
