After the tragic death of his father, 18 year old Totone is thrust into the unexpected and very adult role of looking after his younger sister and their failing family farm in the Jura section of France. He assumes even more responsibility when he enters a cash competition for the best Comte cheese made in this western part of the French Alps. A "verité" look at the hardscrabble life of French agriculture, it is simultaneously a moving love story and above all an ode to the love of cheese.

Ultimately, the comté is beside the point: the nourishment in this terrific, big-hearted drama comes from Courvoisier’s satisfyingly full-blooded characters.

There’s a knack to making great rural cinema, which boils down to capturing the grit and spit and personality of the place rather than some sun-dappled romantic projection of a simpler life. It helps immeasurably that Courvoisier grew up in the same remote Jura farming community in eastern France where the film is set. It shows in every rough-edged, beer-drenched frame – this is earthy, sweaty, unvarnished film-making with dirt under its nails – and in particular it benefits the casting and direction of the phenomenal, largely nonprofessional actors.

The film is a poignant, authentic teen drama, and was awarded a special, one-off “Youth Prize” at Cannes last year.