The Palm Dog Awards: The Canine Cannes Inside Joke That Became An Institution

Since 2001, Cannes Film Festival has gone to the dogs — literally, as the annual Palm Dog awards ceremony has celebrated the best canine performers in cinema for the past 22 years! The yearly ceremony is held at Cannes, honoring all of the best doggy actors that were involved in films that screened at the festival, and it's probably the most important award given out besides the Palme d'Or. This year's competition was one of the fiercest in years, with numerous canines battling it out for the award, which has gone to such prestigious pups as Sayuri the Pit Bull, who played Brandy in "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood," and Uggie the Jack Russell Terrier, who played Jack in "The Artist." But how did it all come about, and who won this year's Palm Dog?

The original Palm Dog was a bit of an inside joke, created by Palm Dog host Toby Rose and inspired by his dog, a Fox Terrier named Mutt, but it has grown to be a major event that's a part of the overall Cannes Film Festival experience. Heck, even Quentin Tarantino graced the ceremony in 2019 to pay homage to Sayuri! My only complaint is that they didn't make Jenny the mini-donkey from "Banshees of Inisherin" into an honorary dog, just for that once. Oh well! Let's take a look at all of the good boys and girls from this year's ceremony, including this year's winner. 

The Hollywood Reporter had the scoop (but not the pooper scooper) on all things Palm Dog, where they revealed that this year's top prize went to a border collie named Messi. Messi plays the dog Snoop in Justine Triet's French thriller "Anatomy of a Fall" and won the Palm Dog for his performance. This year's Palm Dog event even had a corporate sponsor in the cryptocurrency company Dogami, which ties cryptocurrency with the concept of virtual pets. (I, for one, will stick with my free Neopets, thank you.) 

This year's Palm Dog jury created three new categories for doggy awards as well, including "The Mutt Moment" for best canine cameo, a "Highly Commended Canine" award, and a Lifetime Achievement Award. The last award went not to a dog but a human, the British director Ken Loach, who was celebrated for highlighting "the bond between human and animals and for canines in particular." Loach also previously won the Palm Dogmanitarian award for putting three-legged dogs in his movies. Hey, anyone who loves cameras loves a tripod! This year's Palm Dogmanitarian is Isabella Rossellini, who is being honored for her activist work on behalf of dogs.

The Grand Jury prize went to Alma, a mixed breed pup who plays Chaplin in Aki Kuraismäki's "Fallen Leaves." It turns out that you don't need papers to win a Palm Dog! Congrats to all of the good boys and girls — I hope they get lots of belly rubs.