Gints Zilbalodis (born 13 April 1994) is a

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n filmmaker, animator and composer. A prominent figure of Latvian animation, Zilbalodis is best known for directing non-dialogue animated adventure films ''

Away Away may refer to: Film and television * ''Away'' (2016 film), a British film directed by David Blair * ''Away'' (2019 film), a Latvian animated silent film by Gints Zilbalodis * Away (2025 film), a drama film by Gerard Oms * ''Away'' (TV series ...

'' (2019) and ''

Flow Flow may refer to: Science and technology * Fluid flow, the motion of a gas or liquid * Flow (geomorphology), a type of mass wasting or slope movement in geomorphology * Flow (mathematics), a group action of the real numbers on a set * Flow (psyc ...

'' (2024), the latter of which earned him accolades including an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

, a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

, and an

Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in American cinema and television. Origina ...

, with nominations for two

British Academy Film Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to f ...

, making him and co-producer Matīss Kaža the first Latvians to win an

Early life

Gints Zilbalodis is the child of a

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

mother and a

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

father. He gained interest in filmmaking as a medium for expressing his thoughts; he stated that he struggles to express his emotions externally. He chose not to attend university as Latvia had no animation schools, instead teaching himself animation, sound design, and musical composition.

Career

After directing seven

short films A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

, Zilbalodis' debut feature, ''

'', premiered in 2019. Written, directed, and scored by Zilbalodis himself, ''Away'' was awarded the Contrechamps prize at the

Annecy International Animation Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring ever ...

and was nominated for an

Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Music in a Feature Production The Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Music in a Feature Production (or Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature Production) is an Annie Award given annually to the best music in an animated feature film, t ...

. Zilbalodis' second feature film, ''

'', was selected to screen in the ''

Un Certain Regard (; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films with unusua ...

'' portion of the

2024 Cannes Film Festival The 77th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 14 to 25 May 2024. American filmmaker and actress Greta Gerwig served as jury president for the main competition. American filmmaker Sean Baker (filmmaker), Sean Baker won the Palme d'Or, the ...

. Unlike his past works, ''Flow'' marked the first time Zilbalodis collaborated with other staff, with animation co-produced by Sacrebleu Productions of France and Take Five of Belgium. It went on to win numerous awards worldwide, including Best Animated Feature at the

97th Academy Awards The 97th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the gala, the AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly r ...

and in the same category at the

82nd Golden Globe Awards The 82nd Golden Globe Awards was an annual awards ceremony for excellence in film and American television productions of 2024. The winners were revealed during the live telecast, aired on CBS on January 5, 2025. The event was hosted by comed ...

, while receiving nominations for two

and the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Due to the success of ''Flow'' in Latvia, Zilbalodis was honoured as "

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

n of the Year" in 2024.

Filmography

Short films

* ''Rush'' (2010) * ''Aqua'' (2012) * Clarity (2012) * ''Priorities'' (2014) * ''Followers'' (2014) * ''Inaudible'' (2015) * ''Oasis'' (2017)

Feature films

* ''

'' (2019) * ''

'' (2024) * ''Limbo'' (TBA)

Awards and nominations

''Away''

''Flow''

Academy_Award_statuette_at_the_Latvian_National_Museum_of_Art

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zilbalodis, Gints 1994 births Film people from Riga Latvian animators Latvian animated film directors Latvian male composers Living people Annie Award winners César Award winners Directors of Best Animated Feature Academy Award winners European Film Awards winners (people) Independent Spirit Award winners Producers who won the Best Animated Feature Academy Award