In a big win that underscored the growing prominence of indepedent animation, Gints Zibalodis’ “Flow,” the moving dialog-free tale of a solitary cat’s journey as it learns to survive after a great flood – that was made with open-source software Blender for just $3.4 million – won the Academy Award for best animated feature. It was the first nomination and first win for Latvia; “Flow” is also nominated for best animated feature.
“I’m really moved by the warm reception our film has had, and I hope that you’ll open doors to independent animation filmmakers around the world,” Zibalodis said, accepting the award. “This is the first time a film from Latvia has ever been nominated. So it really means a lot to us and we hope to be back soon.” With a nod to the film’s themes, he concluded, “We’re all in the same boat and we must find ways to overcome our differences and find ways to work together.”
“Flow topped a field that included “The Wild Robot,” “Inside Out 2,” “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” and “Memoir of a Snail.” This is the third year in a row that this award didn’t go to a movie from Disney or Pixar -the first time this has occurred since the Academy Award for an animated feature was first handed out in 2001. A year ago, Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron,” which was distributed in the U.S. by GKIDS, won the category and two year’s ago, the category Oscar went to Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio,” which was distributed by Netflix.
The win for “Flow” wasn’t a complete surprise though most projections suggested the Oscar would go to Dreamworks Animation’s “The Wild Robot,” a quarter century after the studio’s “Shrek” won the inaugural best animated feature Oscar. “The Wild Robot” veteran animation director Chris Sanders has now been nominated four times without a win. He was previously cited for “Lilo & Stitch,” “How To Train Your Dragon” and “The Croods.”
In a recently interview with Variety, first time nominee Zilbalodis said hopes that more independent films will be made and also seen. “I think that’s happening,” he said. “‘Flow’ is quite universal; that really helped it to find this global audience … Animation, especially, can transcend these boundaries. I think people are accepting that animated films can be for kids, which is fantastic, but it can be for all kinds of audiences.”
Looking ahead, he said he’s optimistic about the state of the animation world. “I think there’s so much more potential to be explored that we’re just starting.”
