
Gints Zilbalodis’ Flow wins the 2024 LUX Audience Award

On 29 April, FERA attended the 2025 LUX Audience Award ceremony, held in the hemicycle of the European Parliament in Brussels. The award, a joint initiative of the European Parliament and the European Film Academy, is organised in collaboration with Creative Europe MEDIA and Europa Cinemas and aims at celebrating European cinema and promoting cultural diversity.
The LUX Audience Award is meaningful to European filmmakers as it promotes European cinema and values by showcasing films that tackle critical issues such as democracy, human rights, and cultural diversity. Through the subtitling of nominated films in all 24 EU languages and screenings across the continent, the award provides visibility and cross-border reach for filmmakers, overcoming one of the sector’s biggest challenges: distribution beyond national markets.
Moreover, the nominated films, often independent co-productions, benefit from significant promotion and media exposure, helping them reach wider audiences and opening up new opportunities for funding and international recognition.
The five nominated films for this year’s edition, announced on 18 September at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, were: Animal, directed by Sofia Exarchou (Greece/Austria/Romania/Cyprus/Bulgaria), Dahomey by Mati Diop (France/Senegal/Benin), Flow by Gints Zilbalodis (Latvia/France/Belgium), Intercepted by Oksana Karpovych (Canada/France/Ukraine), and Julie Keeps Quiet directed by Leonardo van Dijl (Belgium/Sweden).
In the seven months leading up to the ceremony, film enthusiasts across Europe had the opportunity to attend free screenings and rate the films online. The final winner is selected based on a combined vote from the public and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), with each group contributing 50% to the result.
This year’s LUX Audience Award was presented by Nela Riehl, MEP and Chair of the CULT Committee, to Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis for his animated film Flow. The award was accepted on his behalf by producers Ron Dyens and Gregory Zalcman, along with composer Rihards Zalupe.
Flow stands as a remarkable European success story. Entirely animated by Zilbalodis himself on a modest budget, the film showcases the artistic and creative potential of independent European cinema. Its international recognition highlights the strength of European storytelling and artistic innovation on the global stage.
To go further:
LUX Award 2024 ceremony replay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJJrlVAGxLo