No scenery was chewed — Icelandic sheepdog awarded with ‘Palm Dog’ in Cannes

It was a paws-itively magnificent performance.

Less Brad Pitt, more Brad Pittbull, the organizers of the 25th annual Palm Dog awards in Cannes rolled out the red carpet Friday for the four-legged stars getting their flowers alongside their human colleagues, who were in town for this year’s iteration of the film festival held in the French beach town.

Under the Plage du Festival tent, humans sipped their wine while their furry co-stars soaked up the attention at the award ceremony named as a pun on Cannes’ famous Palme d’Or awarded to the director of the year’s best feature film.

This year’s top dog was Panda, an Icelandic sheepdog who stole the show in “The Love That Remains,” by director Hlynur Palmason. Panda is Palmason’s dog in real life, but the victorious hound could hardly be accused of nepaw-tism after her central performance in the drama that explores the year in the life of a family following parental separation.

With Panda unable to attend in person, she was granted perhaps the ultimate privilege of stardom — a double named Lola, who received the award on the winner’s behalf and was pictured alongside children.

Palm Dog jury member Wendy Mitchell said that Panda was chosen for the grand prize because of how central she is to the family’s life in the film, joining them on hikes, on car rides and at the mother’s art studio.

“There are so many great competitors this year, but this dog is at the heart of the film,” Mitchell told Reuters.

While the vagaries of being a film-famous canine meant that Panda couldn’t be there to accept her award in person, she had her people send in a recorded video of her “accepting” the prize — a shiny red bandana stitched with the words “Palm Dog 2025” in golden thread.

“The Love That Remains” producer Anton Mani Svansson explained Panda “doesn’t really know” about the prize, saying of his dog’s bandana that “I guess she will feel good when she has gotten this around her neck.”

Past winners of the prestigious prize include Messi, the Border Collie from Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall,” which in 2023 became the only movie to claim a Palm d’Or and Palm Dog double. In 2019, a Pitbull named Brandy owned by Brad Pitt’s character in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood secured the gong.

But the Palm Dog wasn’t the only prize on offer to furry thespians.

Pipa, a Jack Russell, and Podenco-mix Lupita earned the Grand Jury Prize for their sandy adventures in Sirat, a movie following a father’s search for his missing daughter in the Moroccan desert. Director Olivier Laxe picked up the prize in person on behalf of the dogs.

Meanwhile, dachshund Hippo received a special “Mutt Moment” prize for his memorable scene in the movie Pillion, starring Alexander Skarsgard.

Palm Dog founder Toby Rose told Reuters that the dogs truly deserved the recognition alongside the regular stars. “When the camera’s on them and they do whatever their role is, they stand out,” he said.