War Pony poodle scoops Palm Dog Award

Cannes honours rolled out for four legged performances

by Richard Mowe

Brit, a silver poodle, won the Palm Dog award at the Cannes Film Festival for best performance by a canine
Brit, a silver poodle, won the Palm Dog award at the Cannes Film Festival for best performance by a canine Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival

The only Cannes award ceremony with more bark than bite was back in its inimitable stride with the Palm Dog award for the best canine performance going to Brit, a fluffy silver poodle who stars in the Un Certain Regard title War Pony, directed by Riley Keough and Gina Gammell.

Palm Dog founder Toby Rose
Palm Dog founder Toby Rose Photo: Palm Dog
The directors received news of the award via a video link. An embossed Palm Dog collar - which was accepted at a ceremony in Cannes on behalf of Brit by two stand-in hounds - a pair of poodles - will be sent to the proud animal.

War Pony had originally been titled, Beast which was the name of the poodle played by Brit in the film, whose title changed just before the Festival began. Brit or Beast is adopted by the main character Bill and has a prominent role.

Other awards in the unofficial canine awards went to Marcel, the terrier in the French film Marcel! which was part of the Cannes Special Screenings section and a sheepdog from another Un Certain Regard title, Godland.

The “Dogmatarian” award, for the bond between humanity and canines, went to Patron, the Ukrainian Jack Russell mine sniffer honoured by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his service during the war.

A special Palm Hound Dog was created in honour of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis extravaganza.

The Palm Dog’s founder Toby Rose presided over the proceedings attended by, among others, critic Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian.

Share this with others on...
News

Somewhere over the rainbow Arco director on how he managed to follow his dream with help from Natalie Portman

A place to belong Liam O Mochain on anthology filmmaking, hidden stories and making Abode

Bear necessities Jack Weisman and Gabriel Osio Vanden on working together and making naivety work for them in Nuisance Bear

In ascension Isaac 'Drift' Wright and Deon Taylor on climbing, spiritual development and Drift

Looking back Kei Ishikawa on memory, ambiguity and A Pale View Of Hills

Bearing witness Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman on balance and perspectives in Nuisance Bear

More news and features

We're currently bringing you news, reviews and more direct from BFI Flare and SXSW.



We're looking forward to Fantaspoa.



We've recently brought you coverage of the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, the NY Rendezvous with French Cinema, the Glasgow Film Festival, the Berlinale, Sundance and Palm Springs.



Read our full for more.


Visit our festivals section.

Interact

Don't forget that you can follow us on YouTube for trailers of festival films and more. You can also find us on Mastodon and Bluesky.

It's a busy time for festivals and here's the latest from the spring events:

GSFF 19th edition opens in Glasgow with Downriver A Tiger

Cannes Barbra Streisand to receive honorary Palme d'Or

Thessaloniki Golden Alexanders announced

Cannes Honorary Palme d'Or to be presented to Peter Jackson

Cannes Park Chan-Wook named as Jury head