Huge news for indie animators and Blender users worldwide: Flow, the animated fantasy adventure film directed by Gints Zilbalodis, has won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, engraving its name in history as the first Latvian film to be nominated and win an Oscar, as well as the first international submission to win in this category.
From the moment it premiered in 2024, Flow has been the talk of the town within the CG art community, largely due to the creators’ unconventional choice of software. Despite not holding the “industry-standard” title, Blender – along with its rendering engine Eevee – was used to bring the film to life, supported by various plug-ins such as GeoScatter, FLIP Fluids, Baga Pie, and others.
With Flow now winning the most prestigious award in film, it’s safe to assume Blender will be on the radar of industry higher-ups going forward, and who knows – within the next year or two, we might see it making more appearances on the big screen and finally being recognized as “industry-standard,” one of the few accolades Blender doesn’t possess yet.
By winning an Academy Award, Flow is also sure to delight indie animators, proving that projects with relatively small budgets – emphasis on relatively, as Flow still cost over $3.6 million – can stand toe-to-toe with industry giants. On its path to victory, the Latvian animated gem surpassed major contenders like Pixar’s Inside Out 2, DreamWorks’ The Wild Robot, and Aardman’s Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, as well as its indie brethren, the Australian stop-motion tragicomedy movie, Memoir of a Snail.
Along with director Gints Zilbalodis, Flow’s producers – Matīss Kaža, Ron Dyens, and Gregory Zalcman – were also recognized as recipients of the award. In addition to Best Animated Feature, Flow was also nominated for Best International Feature Film but ultimately lost to the Brazilian political biographical drama I’m Still Here.
“Thank you to my mom and dad. Thank you to my cats and dogs. I’m really moved by the warm reception our film has had. I hope this will open doors to independent animation filmmakers around the world,” commented Zilbalodis. “This is the first time a film from Latvia has ever been nominated. So it really means a lot to us. We are very inspired and we hope to be back soon.”
Earlier this year, Flow also won Best Animated Picture at The Golden Globes, the first major awards ceremony of 2025. You can learn more by clicking this link.
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