In a surprising upset, the New York Film critics Circle (NYFCC) has named Gints Zilbalodis’s Flow as the year’s best animated feature film. This dialog-free, $3.7 million co-production from Belgium, France, and Latvia triumphed over big-budget American contenders like Disney-Pixar’s Inside out 2 and Dreamworks Animation’s The Wild Robot.
The NYFCC, the oldest film critics group in the United States, has a strong track record of predicting Academy Award nominees in the animated feature category. Of the 22 years in which both the NYFCC and the Academy have awarded prizes in this category, 20 NYFCC winners have gone on to receive Oscar nominations.”The Boy and the Heron,” directed by Hayao Miyazaki, topped both events last year.
Currently enjoying a limited release in Los Angeles and New York City through Janus Films, Flow will expand to wider audiences this weekend. The film is a contender not only for the animated feature Oscar but has also been submitted by Latvia as its official entry for the international feature film category.
Flow made its debut in the Un Certain Regard sidebar of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and was a major hit at the annecy International Animated Film Festival in June, garnering more awards than any other film in competition. These included the feature film jury award, audience award, Gan Foundation Award for Distribution, and best original music for a feature film. The film is also nominated for the animated feature category at the European Film Awards, which will be held on Saturday in Switzerland.
“I wanted to create a film that was both visually stunning and emotionally resonant,” said Zilbalodis. “I hope that Flow will inspire audiences to connect with nature and appreciate the beauty of the world around them.”
The animation was produced by Sacrebleu Productions (France) and Take Five (Belgium),while zilbalodis produced through his own Latvian studio,Dream Well Studio.
