Gints Zilbalodis’ “Flow” (Sideshow and Janus) might be the animated surprise of the year. Co-written by Zilbalodis and Matiss Kaza, it’s a sublime adventure about a black cat trying to survive a massive flood, immersing the viewer in the action without dialogue but with a roving, 360-degree camera. It’s like Hayao Miyazaki meets Alfonso Cuarón in its cinematic daring.
After earning the top prizes at the Animation Is Film and Ottawa International Animation festivals, the Latvian entry for the Best International Feature Oscar also vies for Best Animated Feature. It all started with the director’s 2012 student short “Aqua,” about a cat overcoming its fear of water in the ocean. This inspired “Flow” (his second feature following “Away”), which greatly expands the story so that now it’s a black cat confronting its fear of water and other animals by escaping a flood in a boat with a capybara, lemur, stork, and golden retriever.
“I’ve never had dialogue in any of the films I’ve made, so I think of stories where it makes sense,” Zilbalodis told IndieWire. “And in this case, it’s all animals behaving like animals because I feel more comfortable telling stories like this. Also, I’m a visually minded person, and I can be more expressive with all the other tools.
Without dialogue, I have to invent in more unique ways. It allows me to be more cinematic, and I can use the camera more as a storytelling tool. And I think in animation, especially, eve.
