Flow,” a wordless cat parable that became the first Latvian film to win an Academy Award, prompted a sleepless night for Latvians celebrating the historic accolade. “Flow” won the Oscar for animated feature at Sunday’s 97th Academy Awards in Los Angeles,

Flow, a dreamy, dialogue-free tale of a cat in a post-apocalyptic landscape, scored best animated feature film at the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday, becoming the first Latvian film to win an Academy Award and sparking a wave of national pride.

Following the triumph of 'Flow' at the Golden Globes and ahead of the Oscars on Sunday – where Gints Zilbalodis’s film is up for both Best Animated Feature and Best International Feature – Latvia is leaning in with a boost in national funding to fuel future animation success.