EXCLUSIVE: Germany’s Black Forest Studios is hitting the Croisette this week with a psychological horror series and a mission to pitch itself as Europe’s first fully-integrated microdrama studio.

Path of the Lost has completed production, with its maker saying it combines the “intensity of psychological thrillers with the accessibility and pacing of modern short-form entertainment — while maintaining a cinematic standard in directing, atmosphere, and production quality.”

The film follows five students who take a weekend trip to Germany’s Black Forest, only for the journey to slowly descend into a nightmare. Inspired by true events from 1936, the series is billed as a mix of psychological horror, mystery and suspense.

In January, we profiled Black Forest Studios as part of our feature on emerging international microdrama companies. At the time, the company told us of plans to become the “Crazy Maple Studios” of Europe – referring to the influential Chinese microdrama house that pumps out dozens of productions each month.

Black Forest Studios CEO Sebastian Weiland, who runs the company with his wife, writer Nina Gwyn Weiland, is out at the Cannes Film Festival this week introducing the company to the international market. The company USP is a studio with seven stages, 3,000 sqm of studio space, post-productiopn facilities, offices and a lot, with the microdrama focus the latest step in the strategy.

“We see microdrama as one of the most exciting growth opportunities in the global entertainment landscape,” said Sebastian Weiland. “With Black Forest Studios, we are building a fully integrated studio model — from development and production to distribution of premium microdrama content.”

Black Forest Studios productions to date include microdrama series such as Black Forest Royale, Mountain Medical Klinik and Dark Shades of the Outer Forest, all of which are in production. Those in pre-production include Guts, with the likes of The Football Academy, Taurus and Triple Trouble in development.

Each series has a European flavor, while using the microdrama format that has taken hold in the U.S., Korea and China.