By Jack Dunn

According To The variety The Forge has acquired North American rights to Guan Hu’s Cannes award winner “Black Dog,” and worldwide distribution rights to Alison Tavel’s “Resynator,” which won best documentary feature at South by Southwest.

The Forge also recently acquired North American rights for French horror-comedy “The Balconettes,” which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and plays the American French Film Festival in Hollywood next week.

“Black Dog,” which won Un Certain Regard’s prize at Cannes 2024, follows ex-offender Lang (Eddie Peng) who “returns to his hometown where he forms an unexpected bond with a stray black dog. Both outcasts, they embark on a transformative journey together,” according to an official logline. The film grossed more than $2.4 million after just two days at the Chinese Box office.

“Resynator,” which serves as Tavel’s feature directorial debut, “follows the legacy of inventor Don Tavel through the eyes of his daughter Alison, who was just ten weeks old when he died in a car crash in 1988. Growing up surrounded by mythical stories of her “genius” father, Alison’s life was absent from any true connection to him before she rescued his synthesizer prototype from her grandmother’s attic. What starts as a curious resurrection project turns into an insatiable globe-trotting quest aided by estranged family, lost friends, fellow inventors, and celebrated musicians like Grace Potter, Peter Gabriel, Fred Armisen, Gotye, and Jon Anderson,” according to an official description. Both films will play in 20 markets across North America before the end of 2024. More release information, including additional festival dates, will be made available in the near future.

The Forge was established in 2019 by long-time indie producer Mark Mathias Sayre. Some of the distributor’s other releases include “Freedom’s Path,” “Low Low” and “Boom: A Film About the Sonics.”