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| Dixie with co-star Brenda Blethyn in Dragonfly |
Dixie, the American bulldog star of Paul Andrew Williams' Dragonfly, was the big winner at yesterday's Fido awards. Named the Best in the World, she also received the Femme Fido award, seeing off the canine stars of Die, My Love and Christy to achieve recognition as the most accomplished hound in a film focused on women. A lively ceremony at the BFI in London saw singer Holly Johnson, composer Alfie Godfrey and actor Jean Christophe Bouvet among the human guests as the event celebrated its 20th anniversary.
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| Holly Johnson with Pillion star Maggie and companion Punky |
The awards featured a series of wins for the UK, with the canine stars of Hamnet, Pillion and I Swear all receiving prizes. Meanwhile the FiDogManitarian Award, honouring an individual who organises a unique celebration of the bond between canines and humans, was presented to May Wong, one of the co-founders of Rescue Dogs of London and the podcast George & Lulu’s Adventures.
The highly talented Indy was a shoo-in for the horror award after his star-making performance in Good Boy, while charming chihuahua Nala from The Summer With Carmen continued to steal hearts despite missing out in the Rom Com Rover category.
The Fidos are the only canine film awards to reflect a wide set of films seen and enjoyed by the public, as they allow nominations from any film released in the UK in the preceding year. This gives them an important role in promoting talent and makes them more accessible than the Palm Dog awards, which only cover films screened at Cannes. The jury is made up of film journalists, some of whom are aided by canine companions of their own.
The awards in full:
Historical Hound
- Hamnet - Toad the Jack Russell
Rom Com Rover
- Pillion - Maggie ('Rosie') the Rottweiler
Mutt Moment
- I Swear (dir. Kirk Jones) – April ('Rosie'), the springer spaniel
Blockbuster Bowser
- Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning – Huskies
Comedy Canine
- Merv – Gus, a terrier-mix rescue dog
Horror Hounds
- Good Boy (dir. Ben Leonberg) - Indy, the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever
Femme Fido
- Dragonfly – Dixie ('Sabre'), the American bulldog
BFI Best In World Award
- Dragonfly – Dixie ('Sabre') the American bulldog
Creature Clothes Crown Award
- Dogspiracy
The Caravan Cup
- The Summer With Carmen - Nala, the chihuahua
