Cartuna has acquired North American distribution rights to “Dog of God,” the animated function written and directed by Latvian filmmakers Lauris Ābele and Raitis Ābele, following its screening on the Sitges Movie Pageant. The corporate will launch the movie theatrically in 2026.
“Canine of God” additionally reps Latvia within the worldwide Oscar race, and has made the European Movie Awards shortlist for finest animated function. Animation might show to be fruitful for Latvia as soon as once more throughout awards season — earlier this yr, “Circulation” received an Academy Award for animated function, Latvia’s first, and it additionally earned a world function nomination.
Rendered in rotoscope animation, “Canine of God” is a interval horror-fantasy set in a seventeenth century Livonian village. The movie follows villagers as a lacking relic, witchcraft and a self-proclaimed werewolf referred to as the “Canine of God” upend their fragile order.
Ivo Briedis and Harijs Grundmanis are co-writers on “Canine of God,” which is produced by Kristele Pudane, Raitis Ābele and Giovanni Labadessa. Having premiered on the Tribeca Pageant and screened at greater than 30 festivals worldwide, together with Fantasia and FrightFest, the movie has drawn reward for pushing the boundaries of grownup animation — described by Selection as “a cult favourite amongst lovers of darkish fantasy, graphic novels and genre-stretching absurdist cinema, à la Yorgos Lanthimos.”
“’Canine of God’ is a kind of movies that defies categorization — it’s half parable, half fever dream,” stated James Belfer, founder and CEO of Cartuna. “It’s daring, unsettling, and darkly humorous in all one of the best methods. Lauris and Raitis have such a singular imaginative and prescient and we’re thrilled to champion it to audiences who crave one thing actually new in animation.”
Director Raitis Abele was equally excited by the partnership, proclaiming, “The distributors I talked to had been impressed and afraid. Cartuna was no exception.”
Cartuna, based by James and Adam Belfer, champions unconventional voices in animation, producing and distributing tasks that push the boundaries of kind, tone and expertise. Acquisitions this yr embrace “Boys Go to Jupiter,” “Lifeless Lover” and “Tamala 2030: A Punk Cat in Darkish.”
The deal was negotiated by Justyna Koronkiewicz of Media Transfer on behalf of the filmmakers and James Belfer for Cartuna.
