Granny's Sexual Life, the multi-award-winning Slovenian-French animated documentary, won the Cesar for best animated short at the 48th iteration of the French film awards in Paris on 24 February.

The film by Slovenian director and screenwriter Urška Djukić and French animator Emilie Pigeard tells about the youth and intimate life of grandmother Vera to shed light on how women, coerced by strict Church doctrine and social conventions, were perceived as objects for gratification of their husbands' sexual desires.

The film is based on the anonymous testimonials of women gathered by Milena Miklavčič in her books Fire, Ass and Snakes Are Not Toys.

Commenting for the STA, Djukić welcomed the award as a tribute to Slovenian filmmakers, noting this was the first time that a Slovenian film had been nominated for the top French accolade.

She thanked everyone who helped create the film. "I'm grateful to all of you who believed in me, encouraged me and gave me the opportunity to express what I feel through film. I especially appreciate the older women who have the power to encourage other young women, to give them support and to help them overcome these outdated societal patterns of subordination," she said.

The award "is also an acknowledgement that domestic violence against women is a topical and important issue that we need to talk about, and fight against the normalisation of such slave-like relationships between men and women as have existed throughout history".

The film has won a number awards, including the European Film Academy award for best short, the Grand Prix at the Tampere Film Festival, best European animated film at the Go Short festival in the Netherlands and best film at the Festival of Animation Film in Berlin.

Djukić directed the film in collaboration with Pigeard and wrote the script together with Maria Bohr. She also edited the film.