THE stop-motion “My Life as a Courgette” has taken both the top prize and the audience award at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. The film, which was an entry in the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes, is the first feature from Swiss director Claude Barras and based on the novel by Gilles Paris. It was adapted for the big screen by Cesar-nominated French writer-director Celine Sciamma (“Girlhood”). The story depicting the growing pains of an awkward orphan is geared towards adults more than children. It received rave reviews at Cannes.

    The jury distinction was also given to a French film, another geared for an older audience. “La Jeune Fille Sans Mains” (“The Young Girl Without Hands”) by Sebastien Laudenbach, adapted from a Brothers Grimm story, is told in the sparse style of Chinese calligraphy. The film appeared in the unofficial ACID sidebar at Cannes.

    The two films were among a strong competition slate this year that included Ann Marie Fleming’s feature debut “Window Horses,” Penny Lane’s Sundance hit “Nuts!,” Maxim Volkov’s “Sheep and Wolves,” and Sang-ho Yeon’s zombie thriller “Seoul Station.”

    In the short film categories, Franck Dion’s “The Head Vanishes” took the top prize. Joanna Rytel’s “Moms on Fire” received the jury distinction, and the jury award went to Theodore Ushey’s “Vaysha l’Aveugle” (“Blind Vaysha”). Nita Cronje won the Jean-Luc Xiberras award for the first-time director’s “An Ordinary Blue Monday Morning.” David Coquard-Dassault’s “Peripheria” took the audience prize.

    This year’s festival world premiered Illumination’s “Minions” follow-up, “The Secret Life of Pets,” and hosted several big previews, including 20 minutes of final footage from “Ice Age: Collision Course” and scenes from the Alec Baldwin-voiced “Boss Baby.”(SD-Agencies)