RIGA, Latvia (AP) 鈥� 鈥淔low,鈥� that became , prompted a sleepless night for Latvians celebrating the historic accolade.
for animated feature at Sunday鈥檚 in , which aired starting at 2 a.m. Monday, in an upset over DreamWorks Animations鈥� 鈥淭he Wild Robot.鈥�
The Oscar statuette is the latest source of hometown pride for the who have embraced 鈥淔low鈥� and filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis in droves since the world premiere at the in May 2024. calls the film 鈥渁n unprecedented phenomenon in the history of Latvian cinema.鈥�
More than 320,000 people have watched it in theaters across Latvia, an audience larger than any other film screened in the country in the last 30 years, . And over 15,000 people over 10 days visited the Latvian National Museum of Art to see the film鈥檚 鈥� also Latvia鈥檚 first 鈥� on public display in January.
After thanking his cats and dogs during his acceptance speech, Zilbalodis acknowledged the momentous nature of his win. The film was also nominated for
鈥淭his is the first time a film from Latvia has ever been nominated,鈥� Zilbalodis told the Los Angeles audience. 鈥淪o it really means a lot to us. We are very inspired and we hope to be back soon.鈥�
Latvian musician Ralfs Eilands called the pre-dawn ceremony as 鈥渋ndescribable! The best sleepless night in my life!鈥� in a post on X.
The film 鈥� called 鈥淪traume鈥� in Latvian 鈥� is a peaceful, yet post-apocalyptic, fable about a black cat, dog, capybara, ring-tailed lemur and secretary bird trying to survive a catastrophic flood. The film has no dialogue and forces viewers to be mesmerized by the unlikely relationship and understanding between the species trying to escape the rising waters.
鈥淭his is a great and historic day for Latvia! And we will all need time to understand what happened, because something big and beautiful occurred!鈥� Latvian President Edgars Rink膿vi膷s wrote on X following the win.
Prime Minister Evika Sili艈a, in her congratulations on X to the filmmakers, added, 鈥渢he cat continues to capture the hearts of people worldwide!鈥�
In the center of the capital city, an art installation set up in February spells out 鈥淩IGA鈥� with the black cat perched atop the 鈥淎鈥� to ensure Latvians and tourists alike 鈥� including Rink膿vi膷s, who snapped 鈥� can pose with the famous feline. And a special stamp featuring the starring black cat was released days before .
Oscars host Conan O'Brien also gave a shoutout 鈥� and a challenge 鈥� to following the 鈥淔low鈥� victory: "Ball鈥檚 in your court, !"
鈥淲e鈥檝e got you, @ConanOBrien. Estonia will do its best to catch up,鈥� Kristen Michal, Estonia's prime minister, replied on X.
The Associated Press
