Interesting Facts About the Film 'FLOW', Winner of Best Animated Feature at the 2025 Oscars

Kapanlagi.com - The world of animated film has made history again at the 2025 Oscars with the surprising victory of the film FLOW. This film, which hails from Latvia, managed to win the award for Best Animated Feature, beating out major films like INSIDE OUT 2, WALLACE & GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL, and THE WILD ROBOT.

Unlike other animated films backed by major studios, FLOW is an independent film made with a budget significantly smaller than its competitors. Relying on stunning visuals and without dialogue, FLOW tells the story of a group of animals in a post-disaster world, where humans have vanished.

The uniqueness of this film and its journey to winning an Oscar has become a hot topic of discussion. What makes FLOW so special that it could defeat renowned animated films? Here are some interesting facts to know.

1. Beating Big Films at the Oscars

The film Flow from Latvia proves its quality. (credit:imdb)

The 2025 Oscars brought together some of the best animated films of the year in the Best Animated Feature category. FLOW had to compete with INSIDE OUT 2 from Disney-Pixar, THE WILD ROBOT from DreamWorks, and WALLACE & GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL, which is part of the classic Aardman Animations franchise.

Unexpectedly, FLOW emerged as the winner, continuing the trend of non-Disney animated films winning at the Oscars for the past three years. Previously, THE BOY AND THE HERON (2024) and GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO (2023) also managed to outperform Disney animations.

2. Indie Films with Small Budgets

The film Flow from Latvia proves its quality. (credit:imdb)

Unlike its competitors produced by major studios with fantastic budgets, FLOW was made with a budget of around 3.7 million dollars. This figure is significantly smaller compared to INSIDE OUT 2, which was produced with a budget of around 200 million dollars, or THE WILD ROBOT, which spent 78 million dollars.

Despite limited resources, FLOW managed to showcase outstanding animation quality. The film proves that creativity and solid execution can outperform high-budget productions.

3. The Tale of a Cat and Animals in a World Without Humans

The film Flow from Latvia proves its quality. (credit:imdb)

FLOW tells the story of a black cat trapped in a great flood. As the water begins to inundate its home, it struggles to survive by climbing onto a boat. There, it meets a capybara, a dog, a lemur, and various other animals also searching for a safe place.

Throughout the journey, these animals must face the challenges of nature without any humans around them. The uniqueness of this film is the complete absence of dialogue, forcing the audience to understand the story solely through the visuals and expressions of the characters.

4. Awards and Praise from Critics

The film Flow from Latvia proves its quality. (credit:imdb)

Before winning an Oscar, FLOW had already received recognition from various prestigious film festivals. The film won awards at the Ottawa International Animation Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, European Film Award, and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 2024.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a score of 96% on the tomatometer, while on IMDb, Flow has a rating of 8.0/10. These figures indicate how well the film has been received by both audiences and critics.

5. Young Director from Latvia Who Made History

The film Flow from Latvia proves its quality. (credit:imdb)

The director and screenwriter of FLOW, Gints Zilbalodis, is a filmmaker from Latvia born in 1994. He has won 14 awards in the field of filmmaking, but FLOW is his greatest achievement so far.

This victory also marks history for Latvia, as FLOW becomes the first film from the country to successfully bring home an Oscar. This proves that filmmaking from small countries can compete on the world stage if it has good quality.

(kpl/vna)