Another star is born! This year’s recipient of the 77th Cannes Film Festival’s Palm Dog Award is Kodi, a Griffon mix from the movie “Dog On Trial”.
In the movie, directed by and starring Laetitia Dosch, Kodi was praised for his amazing performance for playing the role of Cosmos, a guide dog for a visually impaired man who literally goes to trial for biting a woman.
Kodi is the successor of Messi the dog, from the movie “Anatomy of a Fall”, who won the Palm Dog Award in 2023 and went on to enjoy super stardom.
However, unlike Messi, Kodi personally accepted his Palm Dog Award, which was a dog collar, during the award ceremony held at the beachfront on Cannes’ Coisette.
Talking about the 10-year-old rescue’s Palm Dog Award, Dosch tells AP News, “It’s talking about animal status and other beautiful parts that now dogs have on films and how scriptwriters, directors are interested in the place of animals in our society.”
Critic and jury member Anna Smith tells the Marianas Variety, “This film is very significant because it not only explores the bond between humans and dogs but it takes a satirical, comedic but quite profound look at the way that we domesticate dogs and the way that we relate to dogs, and the way our justice system relates to dogs.”
Other winners during this year’s Palm Dog Awards included Xin, the greyhound from the movie “Black Dog”, winning the Palm Dog’s Grand Jury Prize.
Furthermore, three prizes were also awarded for best “mutt moments” to:
Chippy from the movie “Megalopolis”
Dave from the movie “Bird”
And the dog ensemble of the movie “Kinds of Kindness”
The Palm Dog is the dog equivalent of Cannes Film Festival’s top prize. While it is not officially part of the film festival, it has been awarding amazingly talented pooches since 2001.