Gints Zilbalodis facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gints Zilbalodis
Zilbalodis in 2025
Born	(1994-04-13) April 13, 1994 (age 31) Riga, Latvia
Occupation	Animator, film director, composer
Notable work	Away (2019) Flow (2024)

Gints Zilbalodis (born April 13, 1994) is a talented filmmaker from Latvia. He is famous for directing animated movies like Away (2019) and Flow (2024). Flow even won an Oscar for Best Animated Movie! This made him and his co-producer Matīss Kaža the first Latvians ever to win an Oscar.

Early Life and Learning

Gints Zilbalodis grew up with artistic parents: his mom was a painter and his dad was a sculptor. He found that making films was a great way to share his thoughts and feelings, especially since he sometimes found it hard to express them out loud.

Instead of going to a university, Gints decided to teach himself everything about animation, sound design, and even composing music. This was because Latvia didn't have special schools for animation at the time.

Making Movies: From Shorts to Big Hits

Before making full-length movies, Gints directed several animated short films. These helped him practice and develop his skills.

Away (2019)

His first big animated movie was called Away, released in 2019. Gints did almost everything for this film himself! He wrote the story, directed it, and even created all the music. Away won the Contrechamps prize at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. It was also nominated for an Annie Award for its music.

Flow (2024)

Gints' second animated movie, Flow, was shown at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. This time, Gints worked with other people to make the film. Animation studios from France and Belgium helped him.

Flow became a huge success around the world. It won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 97th Academy Awards. It also won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards. The movie was also nominated for two British Academy Film Awards. Because Flow was so successful, Gints Zilbalodis was named "Riga Citizen of the Year" in 2024.

Filmography

Short films

• Rush (2010)
• Aqua (2012)
• Prioritātes (2014)
• Followers (2015)
• Inaudible (2015)
• Oasis (2017)

Feature films

• Away (2019)
• Flow (2024)

Awards and Recognition

Gints Zilbalodis has won many awards for his animated films.

For Away, he won:

• The Contrechamps Award at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in 2019.
• Best Animated Feature Film at the Latvian Film Prize in 2019.
• Best Animated Feature at the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival in 2019.

For Flow, he won some of the biggest awards in filmmaking:

• The European Film Award for Best Animated Feature Film in 2024.
• The Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 97th Academy Awards in 2025.
• The Annie Award for Outstanding Writing in a Feature Production in 2025.
• The César Award for Best Animated Film in 2025.
• The Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film in 2025.
• The Independent Spirit Award for Best International Film in 2025.

He was also honored as "Riga Citizen of the Year" in 2024.