2002 - Tâhti as "Hannibal" in The Man Without a Past - Akis Kaurismaki

Highly Commended : Jack Russell Sonny (aka George), million dollar baggage sniffer spotted in Irish film "Mystics" by David Blair

In year two it was the turn of arthouse hit, The Man Without A Past and laurels for its canine star Tähti, who is housemate of the film’s Finnish director, Aki Kaurismaki. Tähti, which means stellar in Finnish, took the lead canine role of Hannibal. "Tähti really jumped off the screen. Tähti is what four-legged film stardom is all about. Wowser!" read the jury citation for Tähti, the unanimous choice of jury members: Derek Malcolm (The Guardian), Neil Norman (Evening Standard). Dana Thomas (Newsweek) and Alastair Connolly (MTV).

"Now we’re being awarded the Palm Dog nothing else counts. Whatever happens now Cannes 2002 will have been a huge success for the film. Tähti is overwhelmed. I am overwhelmed. Tähti means star in Finnish, so when we named her we could obviously see great things ahead. The Palm Dog, an incredible start for The Man Without a Past," claimed the big man.

"The emotional fever pitch at the award ceremony for the Cannes canine fringe award was also palpable. Waiting on the sweeping lawn of the Grand Hôtel for the arrival of Aki, you could have cut the Pedigree Chum with a knife. Rather carried away by it all, I couldn’t resist trying on the prized Palm Dog collar myself... it was like sneaking into the House of Commons and wielding the Mace". Moments later the black leather collar was in the hands of Aki, who posed enthusiastically for photos as he, too, surrendered to the impulse of wearing the coveted collar.