Meyerowitz Stories poodle wins Palm Dog award at Cannes

Netflix has scored its first 2017 award on the Croisette.

The annual Palm Dog Collar — bestowed each year upon canine stars in major titles screening at the Cannes Film Festival — has been given to Bruno, a standard white poodle that appears opposite Dustin Hoffman and Adam Sandler in Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Redacted), which screened in competition last weekend to positive reviews (particularly for Sandler’s leading performance, which could bag the Cannes Best Actor award) ahead of an expected release on the streaming giant later this year.

Bruno’s victory was sealed thanks to a key scene from the film, during which he “trips up” Hoffman’s character, according to the Palm Dog website.

Also recognized at Friday’s ceremony were three security dogs — each of which were honored with a Palm Dog Special Jury Prize. Two-year-old Lilou, four-year-old Glock, and seven-year-old Even were lauded as essential pieces of this year’s festival security detail, which has intensified in the wake of an uptick in terror attacks in Europe.

Last Saturday, a press screening for Michel Hazanavicius’ competition title (and Jean-Luc Godard biopic) Redoubtable was delayed because of a potential hazard inside the Debussy Theatre, though festival director Thierry Fremaux later cleared the venue for the event to continue.

“Everyone was told to leave. A security detail and two dogs burst in. They ran in as we ran out. It was heroic in these dark and strange times,” Palm Dog jury member Kate Muir, also the chief film critic of Britain’s The Times, said at the event. Toby Rose, Palm Dog founder, also tributing Diesel, a seven-year-old Belgian Shepherd killed during a counter-terrorism raid at the Bataclan in Paris, continued: “This award salutes all the dogs around the world who are involved in the fight against terrorism… In recent days we have been reminded of the work, often unsung, they do to help protect us all.”

The Palm Dog Grand Jury Prize was awarded to Lupo, a German Shepherd that appears in Léa Mysius’ International Critics Week selection Ava, while the Palm DogManitarian Award was accepted by 85-year-old actress Leslie Caron (An American in Paris, Gigi), who appears alongside her four-legged companion Tchi Tchi, a 17-year-old rescue, in the U.K. ITV drama series The Durrells.

“We are thrilled. The Palm DogManitarian Award recognises the bond which connects canines and humans,” Caron said. “That bond is there between myself and Tchi Tchi and it is especially wonderful to receive this award at the 70th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival.”

Past winners of the Palm Dog — its title a play on the Palme d’Or, Cannes’ highest competitive honor — include The Artist‘s Uggie, Bob from The Lobster, and the numerous dogs who appear in Kornél Mundruczó’s White God.