Latvia / 2023 / 84 min / No Dialogue / Animation Adventure Family
The world seems to be coming to an end, teeming with the vestiges of a human presence. Cat is a solitary animal, but as its home is devastated by a great flood, he finds refuge on a boat populated by various species, and will have to team up with them despite their differences. In the lonesome boat sailing through mystical overflowed landscapes, they navigate the challenges and dangers of adapting to this new world.
Awards & Nominations: Cannes Un Certain Regard – Official Program
Annecy International Animation Festival: Won Best Feature Audience Award; Best Original Music; Best Feature Jury Award
Guadalajara International Film Festival: Won Best Animated Feature
Melbourne International Film Festival: Nominated Bright Horizon Award
Ottawa International Film Festival: Nominated Grand Prize
DIRECTOR: Gints Zilbalodis is a Latvian filmmaker and animator best known for Away (2019) which won the Contrechamp Award at the Annecy Film Festival. He focuses on 3D animation with comprehensive camera movements and sprawling environments. His latest animated feature Flow (2024) has been selected for the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival and the Main Competition at Annecy Film Festival.
DIRECTOR STATEMENT: Unlike most animated films we didn’t use any storyboards. Instead, I would create a 3D environment and place the characters in them and explore them with the camera. This is necessary because in Flow there are many very long and complicated shots in which the camera moves through the space which would be impossible to draw in storyboards. In the animatic process I can explore many ideas. It’s like a mix of cinematography, production design and editing. Everything is quite rough and unpolished, but still you can see if the film is working or not. This was the first time working with a team for me so I had to learn many new skills. Before, if I had an idea, I had to figure out how to make it myself, but now I had to articulate it to the team. This was challenging at times, but also very gratifying when ideas were evolving through collaboration. Most of our crew were quite young and passionate and eager to prove themselves.
Contact: caroline@sideshowpictures.com
Sponsored by: Tanya Heller and PURR (use logo)
