Latvia submits Zilbalodis' animated feature film "Flow" for Academy Awards competition

RIGA - Latvia has nominated director Gints Zilbalodis' animated feature film "Flow" for the Academy Awards, as the National Film Center's representative Kristine Matisa informed LETA.

The Latvian jury unanimously selected Zilbalodis' film "Flow" when evaluating nominees for the Oscars in the Best International Feature Film category.

The jury was made up of the Latvian Cinematographers Union's head Marta Bite, the Culture Ministry's State Secretary Dace Vilsone, film critic Daira Abolina, Latvian Animation Association's head Sabine Andersone, producers Alise Gelze and Uldis Cekulis, and the National Film Center's deputy head Inga Blese.

According to Matisa, the jury had to consider two candidates: director Davis Simanis' latest feature film "Maria's Silence", which won the Ecumenical Jury Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival, and Zilbalodis' film "Flow", which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in May and subsequently won four awards at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France, including the Audience Award.

Distribution rights for "Flow" have already been acquired in more than 20 regions and the film will be screened in film theaters in many countries around the world.

Matisa explains that the recognition generated by the international success of "Flow" will be a key element in the race for the Oscars, as the fate of the awards is determined by the votes of members of the U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The positive publicity for the film is enhanced by European and international film professionals' recognition of the film's innovation, originality and thematic relevance.

The first Latvian film to be nominated for Oscars was Janis Streics' 1991 film "The Child of Man", while last year Ilze Kunga-Melgaile's "My Freedom" was nominated for the award.