Flow

Flow (Latvian: Straume) is a 2024 animated adventure film directed by Gints Zilbalodis, written and produced by Zilbalodis and Matīss Kaža. A Latvian, French, and Belgian co-production, it features no dialogue and follows a cat trying to survive along with other animals in a seemingly post-apocalyptic world as the water level dramatically rises. Production of Flow started in 2019, and lasted five-and-a-half years with the animation done using the free and open-source software Blender. Jacques Tati and Future Boy Conan served as inspirations for the film. No storyboards were used for the production and there are no deleted scenes. Flow premiered on 22 May 2024 at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, and was released in Latvian theaters on 29 August. It received critical acclaim and broke several Latvian box-office records, becoming the most-viewed film in Latvian theaters in history. At the 97th Academy Awards, Flow won Best Animated Feature and also nominated for Best International Feature Film as Latvia's submission, becoming the first film from Latvia to win and receive a nomination at the Academy Awards, and also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film; both statuettes were later put on display at the Latvian National Museum of Art.