The Cannes Film Festival in 2020 should have been in full swing. But because of the impact of the epidemic, everything was shouted to stop. However, last week, there was an Cannes Palme d'Or, and unexpectedly announced this year's winner as usual, which more or less made up for some of everyone's regrets.
Uggie, a small terrier who has performed brilliantly in the black-and-white silent film "The Artist", was awarded a "Cannes Dog King Palme d'Or" on Friday in recognition of its outstanding acting skills and cute image in the film.
Stills from The Great Artist
The male protagonists of "The Great Artist", Jean Dujardin and Aggie.
Toby Rose, the organizer of the "Dog Palme d'Or", said that although this year's Cannes Film Festival could not be held as usual, he and several judges decided that they might as well take the opportunity to review all the "Cannes Dog Kings" in the past two decades and choose who is the most amazing "Cannes Dog King". As a result, the judges unanimously agreed to award this honor to Aji.
Aji
Born in 2001, the "Dog Palme d'Or" is not an official award in Cannes, but an idea conceived by a group of journalists who come to Cannes every year to watch films and run news. The prize for the "Dog Palme d'Or" is a leather dog collar, which is awarded to the dog actor who performs the most in the competition or exhibition every year.
Logo of the Dog Palme d'Or.
For two decades, dog actors in famous films such as "The Man Without a Past", "Dogtown", "The End of the Generation", and "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" have won this award. In 2014, the "Dog Palme d'Or" broke the limit on the number of points, awarding all the nearly 300 dogs used in the Hungarian film "White God". However, the weight of the dogs in the eyes of the judges did not exceed the well-behaved and cute Aji in the end, and could only give up the honorary arch claw of the "King of cannes dog kings".
Last year, the "Dog Palme d'Or" winner was Brandy, the bulldog bred by Brad Pitt, the stuntman Seliffe in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."
"If Aji were alive, he would be very proud." Its owner, Omar von Muller, a professional dog trainer living in Los Angeles, accepted the honor on behalf of Aji. In 2015, Aji, a Jack Russell Terrier adopted by him, died of illness at the age of thirteen, which is also a high life in the dog world.
In addition to winning the Cannes Palme d'Or, Aji was the first dog star to leave "handprints" on the cement floor in front of the famous Chinese theater in Los Angeles. At that time, the owner Omar also took him to the Golden Globes and Oscar awards ceremonies, performed the stunt of skateboarding on the live show of ellen de generes, and even launched a petition to give Aji the opportunity to participate in the Oscar competition.
Aji poses with his handprints.