Underplayed Gems

Flow (2024)

Flow poster
Original title
Straume
Directed by
Gints Zilbalodis
Genre
fantasy film, adventure film, family film
Country
Latvia, France, Belgium
Runtime
1h 20m
Rated
PG
Rating
8.1 of 10 from 2,912 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A cat must find a way to survive as floodwaters rise and cover its world. It joins other animals on a boat, navigating the flooded landscape with no spoken language.

atmosphericwordlesssurvivalsolitarymeditativebleakadventurouscalm

What happens

Flow (Latvian: Straume) is a 2024 independent animated dystopian adventure film directed by Gints Zilbalodis, written and produced by Zilbalodis and Matīss Kaža. A Latvian, French, and Belgian co-production, it features no dialogue and follows a cat trying to survive along with other animals in a seemingly post-apocalyptic world as the water level dramatically rises. Production of Flow started in 2019, and lasted five and a half years. The animation was done using the free and open-source software Blender. Jacques Tati and Future Boy Conan served as inspirations for the film. No storyboards were used for the production and there are no deleted scenes. Flow premiered on 22 May 2024 at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, and was released in Latvian theaters on 29 August. It received critical acclaim and broke several Latvian box-office records, becoming the most-viewed film in Latvian theaters in history. At the 97th Academy Awards, Flow won Best Animated Feature. It was also nominated for Best International Feature Film as Latvia's submission, becoming the first film from Latvia to receive an Academy Award nomination and a win. Flow also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Both of the award statuettes were put on display at the Latvian National Museum of Art. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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