Fans of Stephen Colbert may be aware of his highly scientific questionnaire (known as The Colbert Questionert), where he asks his a guests a set of questions, in an attempt to really know them.

The first question is always ‘what is the best sandwich?’ but they do get a little trickier.

Another one of them is ‘what is your earliest memory?’, which is usually greeted by a pregnant pause, as the celebrity in question delves into the back of their mind, to their childhood, to retrieve what they believe to be their earliest memory.

This French animation explores this question in detail, as a young child relives her earliest memories, living abroad.

Japan in the sixties finds a young French family living there. Patrick (Marc Arnaud) works for the French embassy, and his wife and three young children, with Amélie (Loïse Carpenter) being the youngest and smallest.

Although she finds her voice when she turns two, she has spent much of her time thinking – deeply – even considering herself to be a god.

The family get a helper, Nishio-san (Victoria Grosbois), who Amélie quickly bonds with, and spending time with her soon broadens her horizons on the world around her.

Based on Amélie Nothomb’s novel The Character of Rain, which is thought to be autobiographical, it recalls the memories in the making of a young child.

The animation is beautifully rendered by hand, and although is far from highly detailed, it’s vibrantly bold and colourful.

And although animated, it’s not a children’s film per se, although could possibly seen with parent supervision, as it explores fairly heavy topics, such as the reflection of self, and death, with the animation making it deceptively simple.

It’s sweet and thoughtful, narrated by the young Amélie throughout, as she explores the strange world around her during her formative years.

It clearly struck a note, as it is a nominee for the Best Animated Feature for this year’s Oscars, and rightly so.

It’s certainly a wonderful realization of what is said to be an autobiographical story, lovingly brought to life by directors Liane-Cho Han Jin Kuang and Maïlys Vallade, where sumptuous animation meets thought-provoking material, that makes a film that may well live long in your memory.