- White Sox heading for worst season in MLB history
- Hong Kong democracy tycoon's son warns time running out
- New migraine drugs no better than cheap painkillers: big study
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs again denied bail in sex trafficking case
- Brewers clinch division title as MLB playoff race heats up
- US stocks dip despite larger Fed interest rate cut
- Man City held by Inter as PSG pinch win in Champions League
- All Blacks recall Beauden Barrett for Australia Test
- Spurs late show saves Postecoglou blushes at Coventry
- PSG snatch late goal to beat Champions League debutants Girona
- Gittens' late double gives Dortmund Champions League win at Brugge
- Man City blunted by Inter in Champions League stalemate
- Hidden talent: French Olympic star Marchand opts for disguise
- MrBeast named in California lawsuit over 'Beast Games' show
- Gauff splits with Gilbert as coach after 14-month run
- Hundreds of thousands at risk in Sudan's El-Fasher: UN
- Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge
- Venezuelan opposition candidate says letter conceding election was coerced
- X update allows app to bypass Brazil ban: internet providers
- Arsenal's Odegaard faces lengthy injury absence
- India coal expansion risks massive methane growth: report
- China the top challenge in US history, top diplomat says
- Ronaldo's Al Nassr appoint former AC Milan boss Pioli
- Ainslie 'relieved' as British book place in Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Women's NBA will add 15th team in Portland in 2026
- Brazil fires need harsher punishment: environmental police boss
- Boeing to start large temporary furloughs amid Seattle strike
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill nine, wound 300
- 'Emergency' declared over falling UK butterfly numbers
- Stock markets, dollar slip before US rate decision
- Russian advance in Kursk 'stopped': Ukraine official to AFP
- UN members demand end to 'unlawful' Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories
- Snapchat pushes 'safer' platform image, but not everyone agrees
- So where does the oceans' plastic waste come from?
- Allied war heroes buried in Netherlands... 80 years on
- Marsh coy over Australia's choice to open alongside Head
- New London sculpture pays tribute to trans community
- Lebanon doctors tell of horror after pager blasts
- McIlroy eyes Wentworth glory after Irish Open collapse
- Italy seen overtaking France as world's largest wine producer
- Hezbollah vows vengeance on Israel for pager blasts
- Brook expects unified England after McCullum's white-ball takeover
- Kamindu Mendis century rescues Sri Lanka against New Zealand
- Two dead in botched armed raid on Russian retailer's office
- UK train drivers back govt pay deal to end strikes
- Man who copied French rapist says he deserves to punished
- Eriksen will wait to settle Man Utd future
- Former England striker Carroll signs for fourth-tier Bordeaux
- Van Dijk hails Liverpool's 'calm' response in win over AC Milan
- End of the party? Tupperware files for bankruptcy
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
BCC | 1.33% | 137.06 | $ | |
JRI | 0.45% | 13.44 | $ | |
BCE | 3.09% | 35.61 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.02% | 25.055 | $ | |
NGG | -0.46% | 70.05 | $ | |
SCS | 0.71% | 14.11 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.12% | 24.98 | $ | |
RIO | -0.02% | 62.91 | $ | |
RELX | -0.82% | 47.37 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.37% | 6.55 | $ | |
GSK | -0.31% | 42.43 | $ | |
VOD | 0.49% | 10.23 | $ | |
BTI | -0.34% | 37.88 | $ | |
AZN | 0.06% | 78.58 | $ | |
BP | -0.37% | 32.43 | $ |
Cannes 'Palm Dog' goes to mutt on trial
Griffon pup Kodi scampered to victory in the Cannes Film Festival's annual Palm Dog for best canine performer on Friday — proving he is not just a very good boy but a very fine actor too.
His film, "Dog on Trial", is exactly as its title suggests.
Cosmos is hauled before a judge for biting three people, and a young lawyer battles to save him from being put down in this bittersweet Swiss comedy.
But canine actor Kodi -- a former street dog from the south of France, found in a shelter -- steals the show with a paw-fect performance.
The film's director initially "told us Kodi wouldn't have much to do", recalled animal trainer Juliette Roux-Merveille.
But when she received the script, she realised Kodi would have to perform as many as 100 on-camera movements -- including a few new tricks.
"Kodi didn't know how to howl, so we played him the sound of a meowing kitten and it worked," she told AFP.
Kodi's main rival in the dogfight for Cannes-ine glory came from a Chinese film, "Black Dog".
In the movie, a former convict returning to his hometown in northwest China joins a dog patrol tasked with clearing stray mutts from the streets before the 2008 Olympics.
But when he tries to capture a black Jack Russell-greyhound cross, the dog proves a wily adversary and the pair strike up a bond.
Canine star Xin proved such a hit on set that she was adopted by her human counterpart, Taiwanese superstar Eddie Peng, after filming had finished.
A brief heated moment occurred at the Palm Dog ceremony, when the elegant calm of the glamorous beachside club was interrupted by a confrontation between the two rivals.
Coming face to face for the first time, the pair exchanged a few choice barks and yaps, before being led off by their owners and settling in for the ceremony.
- Messi scores again -
Palm Dog Woopets, founded in 2001, honours the best canine performance on the big screen.
Attracting dog lovers, from journalists to Hollywood stars including Quentin Tarantino, the unique and extremely kitsch prize is awarded by bone-a fide film critics, who also pay close attention to animal welfare on set.
Initially conceived as a bit of a joke, it has become a valuable way for Cannes movies to earn extra attention.
And this year, pooches have made their presence felt far beyond the event.
Last year's Palm Dog winner Messi -- star of "Anatomy of a Fall" -- was invited back to "interview" stars on the red carpet.
Equipped with a special 360-degree microphone and camera attached to his back, the Border Collie bounded up the steps to pose for photographers at the festival's opening ceremony.
It caps an extraordinary year for Messi, who went viral in selfies with the likes of Billie Eilish and Ryan Gosling at the Oscar nominees luncheon in Hollywood, and even appeared on the Academy Awards telecast.
And Demi Moore was accompanied on the red carpet at this year's Cannes premiere for "The Substance" by her Chihuahua dog Pilaf.
Moore has earned rave reviews for the body horror film -- a performance which required her to don layers of bizarre and hideous prosthetics.
Thankfully, at least one faithful companion could still identify her on set.
"My little dog... always recognised me," joked Moore. "That's all that counted."
O.Gaspar--PC