“Flow,” which is nominated for best animated film and international feature at the 97th Academy Awards, boldly departs from the conventions of the form. Forget cutesy anthropomorphic animals that walk, talk, and act like us; in the world of Gints Zilbalodis’ film, there are no humans. Instead, the story follows a cat who teams up with a dog, a capybara, a secretary bird, and a lemur to survive an apocalyptic flood aboard a sailboat.
Though the Latvian film has zero dialogue, its animal characters feel fully fleshed out, complete with distinct personalities and dynamic relationships. Here, Zilbalodis, who directed and co-wrote the movie with Matiss Kaza and Ron Dyens, discusses his approach to world-building and why he loves working within limitations.
What appeals to you about relying on visuals rather than dialogue?
I’m a little bit afraid of using dialogue; it’s not my comfort zone. I like expressing myself much more through sound and the camera. I think that, through simplicity, we can go [somewhere] deeper. So even without dialogue, you can tell what the characters are trying to express to each other. It may just be basic, essential prompts, but [their actions say] something about their motivations and personalities. I think it’s also good to have limitations creatively, especially in animation, where there are infinite possibilities and directions to go.
“Flow” gives us glimpses of a much larger world—entire civilizations that are now empty—without much explanation. How did you map that out?
The environments are really there to help us convey what the characters are feeling, first and foremost. The whole world is built to express the cat’s inner feelings. I think it is more interesting to leave some things unanswered—to provoke mystery and for you to feel like you are the cat, seeing everything for the first time. It’s why [we don’t show] specific places from our world. We tried to build something new to get a stronger sense of wonder and adventure.
I also like to use wide-angle lenses in certain shots so I don’t have to direct the audience to look at a certain place, but rather have many elements in the frame. The audience can look around and discover new things on their own.
Animation is a highly planned medium, but “Flow” appears to be shot by a handheld camera, which gives it a naturalistic, documentary-esque look. What drew you to that style?
I was drawn to using long takes, which is something we rarely see in animation. It’s difficult to do in a regular pipeline, where animators are used to working on small bits. In these long shots where the camera keeps moving so much that we couldn’t cheat as much, we had to be more naturalistic.
The handheld movement of the camera makes it more grounded. It can make the action scenes feel more exciting, but also more intimate. And in animation, where everything is constructed, the handheld motion can create a sense that we’re discovering new things.
That was important, not just with the camera movements, but with every element of the film: to make the audience feel like they are discovering things alongside the cat, and for the story to feel unexpected.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
This story originally appeared in the Feb. 13 issue of Backstage Magazine.
