Why the Golden Globe win for animated Latvian film ‘Flow’ matters

The first major awards ceremony of the year, the Golden Globes kicked off the 2025 awards season with an unforgettable night of milestones – not least Karla Sofía Gascón becoming the first out trans performer to get a film acting nod and Nikki Glaser being the first solo female host in the ceremony’s history.

But one win in particular stood out for its sheer significance to European cinema: Flow (Latvian: Straume), the animated film by Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis, claimed the Best Motion Picture – Animated award. In doing so, it became the first-ever Latvian film to win at the Golden Globes, beating out competition from big US productions including Moana 2 and Inside Out 2, a remarkable achievement for a country with a relatively small but growing film industry.

Speaking to the significance of the win, Zilbalodis shared: “This is the first time a film from Latvia was there, so it’s huge for us.”

The film, which debuted at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in the prestigious Un Certain Regard section, has already garnered critical acclaim, winning several awards at European film festivals, including the Best Animated Film at the European Film Awards. It was also Latvia’s shortlisted submission for this year’s Best International Feature Oscar.

Flow is a animated fantasy adventure, created using the free and open-source software Blender, and notable for its lack of dialogue. The film tells the story of a cat’s journey through a surreal, dream-like landscape, with its message about collaboration and trust deeply personal to Zilbalodis. 

The director explained, “This is a very personal story to me because I’ve used to work alone but this time I’ve worked with a team. Just like the cat in the film, I’ve had to learn to trust others, collaborate and overcome our differences, and I think it’s very important to remember this nowadays.” He ended his acceptance speech by thanking everyone who embraced his team’s “little cat film”.

In our Best Movies of 2024 list, we said: “The detailed micro-characteristics of each species, like the overly-keen labrador, the grumpy capybara and the inscrutable secretarybird, create endearing dynamics that float themes of friendship and the importance of banding together despite differences. While the topic of climate change also looms large, Flow is most rewarding when viewed as a simple story told beautifully – at points rather stressful, but ultimately life-affirming catnip for the soul.” Check out our review here.

Following its recent spate of success, Flow is now poised to make a strong push for Academy Awards recognition, making it one of the most anticipated films on the awards circuit. Will it win out over other shortlisted entries for Best International Feature at the Oscars, including Ireland’s Kneecap and France’s Emilia Pérez?

The odds are Emilia will triumph, but there’s still hope for the little kitty that could…