Dog of God, the adult animated horror film from filmmakers Lauris Ābele and Raitis Ābele, has been selected as Latvia’s entry into the Best International Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards.
The film which recently played at the Sitges Film Festival, has been acquired by Cartuna for release in US theaters in 2026.
Dog of God is a dark, hallucinatory period horror-fantasy set in a 17th-century Livonian village, where religious fervor, accusation, and otherworldly phenomena converge. It follows villagers as a missing relic, whispered witchcraft, and a self-proclaimed werewolf called the “Dog of God” upend their fragile order. Rendered in meticulously crafted rotoscope animation, the film blends the grotesque, the poetic, and the absurd with folkloric dread.
It premiered at the Tribeca Festival and went on to screen at more than 30 festivals worldwide—including the Fantasia International Film Festival and London’s FrightFest. The film has been selected as Latvia’s official submission for the 2026 Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category, and has been shortlisted by the European Film Awards for Best Animated Feature.
“Dog of God is one of those films that defies categorization—it’s part parable, part fever dream,” said James Belfer, Founder and CEO of Cartuna. “It’s bold, unsettling, and darkly funny in all the best ways. Lauris and Raitis have such a singular vision and we’re thrilled to champion it to audiences who crave something truly new in animation.”
Director Raitis Abele was equally excited by the partnership, proclaiming, “The distributors I talked to were impressed and afraid. Cartuna was no exception.”
Brothers Raitis and Lauris Ābele are Latvian directors, producers, editors, and screenwriters, often collaborating with their youngest brother Marcis Ābele, who serves as director of photography. Known for blending arthouse sensibilities with genre filmmaking and a strain of dark Baltic mysticism, the Ābeles have developed a distinctive voice within European independent cinema.
Watch the first look trailer on Youtube (The video is age-restricted and only available on YouTube)
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.