STANDARD poodle Bruno, who plays opposite Dustin Hoffman in The Meyerowitz Stories, was the winner of the Palm Dog award for the best canine performance in film at Cannes 2017.

 

The sight of Hoffman sporting a fluffy white beard and towing along an equally fluffy giant white poodle is one of the joys of the comedy-drama The Meyerowitz Stories.

 

It is the first award for a Netflix film at the festival, after controversy over allowing the streaming service to enter.

 

In the film, Hoffman, 78, is the cantankerous patriarch Harold Meyerowitz, who buys the standard poodle named Bruno on condition that his constantly tipsy wife, played by Emma Thompson, promises to give up alcohol.

 

It soon becomes a dog’s dinner when Bruno drags Harold over, smashing his head and causing a brain injury that begins as eccentricity and ends in a coma.

 

The Palm Dog judges felt that Bruno — whose real name is Einstein — had a lean, nuanced take on the role, at one point languidly battling Adam Sandler, his co-star, for space on a sofa.

 

The Grand Jury Prize went to Lupo - a black German Shepherd who is stolen by a rebellious 13-year-old girl who is going blind - in the hard-hitting Lea Mysius film Ava.

 

The Palm DogManitarian Award was presented to Hollywood legend Leslie Caron. The Franco-American actress stars with companion Tchi Tchi, a 17-year-old rescue dog, in the ITV drama The Durrells.

 

Jury members were Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian; Kaleem Aftab, The Independent; Charles Gant, Screen International/Heat; Kate Muir, The Times; Anna Smith, Elle Magazine & Metro; Damon Wise, Empire.

 

The event took place today at the UK Film Centre in the International Village, Cannes.

 

Past winners of Palm Dog Awards include Ken Loach and Uggie from The Artist.

 

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