Estonian premiere
Flow
A cute, yellow-eyed black cat embarks on an eco-adventure in this animated odyssey.
In an enchanted, wordless world of lost civilisations, only animals survive. This new world is the creation of Latvian wunderkind Gints Zilbalodis, who not only directed the film, but also drew, wrote and co-scored the film. Following his brilliant solo debut “Away”, Zilbalodis returns with a bold, human-like cat on a mystical quest. After a catastrophic flood, the lone cat must rescue a group of naive lemurs, a lazy capybara, mischievous storks, a majestic orca and a less-than-trustworthy Labrador from a forsaken, post-apocalyptic jungle.
Despite being snubbed at Cannes by dog lover Xavier Dolan, the film went on to win awards at Annecy, Melbourne and other festivals. It also broke Latvian animation box office records and was nominated for the prestigious LUX Award. In an ideal world, this marvellous and utterly unique film would certainly deserve an Oscar nomination. Meow.
Edvinas Pukšta
Gints Zilbalodis (1994) is a Latvian filmmaker and animator. His fascination for filmmaking began at an early age watching classic films and making shorts and commercials. He has made numerous films in various mediums including hand drawn animation, 3D animation and live-action and often mixing their characteristic aesthetics. His debut feature film “Away” (2019) – which this self-taught animation wizard wrote, directed and scored – was selected in more than 90 festivals and was sold in 18 territories. It won the Contrechamps Award for Best Feature Film at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. It was also nominated for an Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Music in a Feature Production. A notable trait in all his films is the lack of dialogue.
Projām (Ära, PÖFF 2019, animation), Flow, 2024, animation)
Award for Best Baltic Film, grant of 5000€ from Piletilevi
