Lauris and Raitis Abele offered us an insightful conversation about their animated feature Dog of God, which had its world premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival.
A feature-length animated film blending comedy and horror with astonishing finesse has just landed at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival. We had the great pleasure of sitting down with Lauris Abele and Raitis Abele, the two filmmakers behind Dog of God, a bold and marking work—one that’s poised to make serious waves on the international festival circuit.
In the 17th century Livonian village of Zaube, there’s something in the air, something potentially sinister and ripe with nightmarish ramifications. Several of the village’s residents can feel it: from the burly pastor’s scared, young errand boy to the local tavern’s maid. The danger manifests itself loud and clear when the pastor accuses the maid of witchcraft, leading to a trial during which an elder man proclaims himself to be a werewolf — not the traditional Lon Chaney, Jr. kind of werewolf but, rather, one rooted in Latvian folklore and hewing closer to a mad shaman. How all this tension comes to a head will change the village and its surviving inhabitants forever.
Explore our coverage of the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival here.
