Festivals - Cannes 2024: Kodi, the dog of The Dog on trial, wins The Palm Dog

By Sabine, 24 may 2024

Created in 2001, the Palm Dog rewards, each year, dogs who have particularly stood out on the screen in films at the Cannes Film Festival. “In our criteria for awarding the Palm Dog, we are committed to animal welfare, very attentive to filming conditions. We inquire every time,” says Anthony Pruvost, founder of Woopets, a French media dedicated to pets, which manages the Palm Dog.

This year, Kodi, the dog from the film Dog On Trial won the prize. This former street dog from Narbonne went from a shelter to the red carpet. This griffin is nine years old. He was coached by Juliette Roux-Merveille. The film is released in theaters in France on September 11, 2024. It traces the adventures of Avril (Laetitia Dosch), a lawyer who subscribes to lost causes. Dariuch (François Damiens) desperately asks him to defend his faithful companion Cosmos. Then begins a trial as unexpected as it is agitated: the trial of the dog.

The jury's grand prize, the 2nd most important trophy, was awarded to the other contender, Xin, a female Jack Russell cross greyhound of the movie “Black Dog” from the Chinese Guan Hu.The animal, a stray dog ​​in the Chinese film, was adopted at the end of the shooting by lead actor Eddie Peng. He too was present, alongside the animal. “She’s the star of the film,” commented the actor, who spoke of “unconditional love” with his dog.

Last year, Messi, the border collie from the film Anatomy of a Fall, won the prize. After the Palme d’Or, the film won the Oscar for screenplay. The opportunity for the eight-year-old Border Collie to blow up social media during a nominees luncheon with viral selfies taken by actors Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper,...

Synopsis :
Avril, a lawyer with a track record of losing cases, has made herself a promise: she'll win her next case! But when Dariuch, a client as desperate as his cause, asks her to defend his faithful companion Cosmos, Avril's convictions take over. And so begins a trial as unexpected as it is turbulent: the trial of the dog.

Dog on Trial
Directed by Laetitia Dosch
Written by Laetitia Dosch, Anne-Sophie Bailly
Based on An original idea by Laetitia Dosch
Produced by Lionel Baier, Agnieszka Ramu, Thomas Verhaeghe, Mathieu Verhaeghe
Starring  : Laetitia Dosch, François Damiens, Jean-Pascal Zadi, Anne Dorval, Kodi, Mathieu Demy, Anabela Moreira
Pierre Deladonchamps, Cinematography : Alexis Kavyrchine
Edited by Suzana Pedro, Isabelle Devinck
Music by David Sztanke
Production companies : Bande à Part Films, Atelier de Production, RTS Radio Télévision Suisse, SRG SSR, France 2 Cinéma
Distributed by : Pathé Films AG (Switzerland), The Jokers Films (France)
Release dates : 19 May 2024 (Cannes), 11 September 2024 (France)
Running time : 80 minutes