RIGA, Nov 18 (LETA) - Riga City Council's Rigan of the Year Award will go to filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis this year for his achievements in animation art and popularization of Riga and Latvia worldwide, as Riga City Council informed LETA.

Riga Mayor Vilnis Kirsis (New Unity) points out that Zilbalodis' moving film "Flow" has already received popular and critical acclaim. Kirsis wishes "Flow" to win the European Film Academy Award and an Oscar in addition to the awards it has received so far.

In a video address, Zilbalodis said he was unable to attend the ceremony in Riga because he was at a film festival in Spain and was due to travel to New York soon for the film's release in the United States.

Zilbalodis said that he was honored to receive the award, and added that most of the film was made in Riga by a relatively small team.

"I would like to thank everyone who supported me, I feel inspired and the whole team is inspired. We are ready to continue our work and start the next project that will continue to popularize Latvia in the world," Zilbalodis said.

Zilbalodis is an animator, film director and artist. His latest animated film "Flow" has been seen by 100,000 moviegoers in Latvia and has won 16 international awards.

Riga City Council today also presented four certificates of merit.

Raimonds Strokss received a certificate of merit for organizing the biggest motorsport festival in Riga, while Juris Dambis and Inese Grandane received certificates for their work on preservation of the cultural heritage of Riga. Jurgis Cabulis was presented a certificate for significant contribution to the international success of Riga Cathedral Choir School's mixed choir and Riga youth choir Kamer.