LOS ANGELES: The independent film “Flow” won the best animated feature film Oscar on Sunday, securing the first Academy Award for Latvia and its Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis.

"Flow" follows a cat that finds refuge on a boat along with other animals that join together after a flood destroys their homes.

The movie stood out in 2024, having been rendered on a free and open-source software platform called Blender and having no dialogue.

“Flow” rode a tidal wave into the Oscar race after big studio films like “Inside Out 2,” “Moana 2” and “The Wild Robot,” which all had higher box office numbers, lost the Golden Globe to the small independent film.

The "Flow" team also transformed its smaller budget into a nominee for the best international film Oscar, achieving rare recognition for an animated film in two major categories and making history with the first Oscar nominations for the Northern European country ever.