Before the Palme d’Or gets dished out and after power cuts took down the town’s electricity for a day, Cannes was abuzz with the burning question: qui a gagné le Palm Dog? The answer came yesterday afternoon at a star-studded-collar event on the beach at The Members Club. In a woof-and-ready ceremony, jury member Peter Bradshaw noted that 25 films had come under consideration for this year’s honors, pointing out that some were made by directors who hadn’t even been born when the event first took place at the UK Pavilion back in 2000.
• The top prize — The Palm Dog itself — went to sheepdog Panda, for her part in a film directed by her owner: The Love That Remains, Hlynur Pálmason’s tragicomic, gentle family saga.
• Mutt Moment — for the year’s best scene-stealer — went to the British Un Certain Regard film Pillion for its long-haired Dachshund Hippo and Rottweiler Rosie.
• The Grand Jury prize went to the two dogs in Oliver Laxe’s apocalyptic road movie Sirât.
• The inaugural Four-Legged Fellowship went to Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Amores Perros, screening in Cannes Classics.
Pillion director Harry Lighton was unable to attend, but sent a message saying, “I’d like to thank the jury for recognizing the nuance, complexity and raw sex appeal in Hippo’s ‘performance. I hesitate to use that word. Hippo doesn’t perform, she inhabits, and while Harry and Alexander do solid work, it’s Hippo who carries the film on her little legs… This award is for every small dog out there with big dreams.”
Sad news came from Sirât star Jade Oukid, who revealed that Pipa, the dog in the film, was actually her own, and had passed away after the shoot. However, director Laxe kindly added that, thanks to the power of cinema, Oukid’s dog had become “eternal”.
And in a move so new that disorganizer Toby Rose forgot to mention it on the Palm Dog press release, this year also saw the inauguration of a brand new award, The Four-Legged Fellowship. This went to the team behind Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Amores Perros (2000), which, like the Palm Dog, celebrated a quarter of a century at the festival this year and is about to get a shiny new re-release courtesy of Mubi.
Iñárritu was a bit too tied up, shooting Tom Cruise in London, to attend, but producer Martha Sosa sent a message saying, “We are truly honoured to receive this recognition from the Palm Dog Awards, for the beloved canine stars of Amores Perros, who are sadly no longer with us. This year marks a significant double celebration: the 25th anniversary of your awards and 25 years since the premiere of Amores Perros at Cannes. A heartfelt thank you to the entire Palm Dog Awards team from all of us.”
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