Before the final climb of the 2024 steps and the awards ceremony by Greta Gerwig, Black Dog was distinguished by the jury of Un certain regard and Three kilometers to the end of the world received the Queer prize.
Even before the closing ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival, which will end on Saturday evening, several prizes from the parallel selections were awarded. Black Dogstory of friendship between a stray dog and an agent responsible for eliminating them in China, received the Un Certain Regard prize on Friday. The film is an opportunity for director Guan Hu to “filming the daily lives of those left behind by the industrial development that propels the country’s economy”according to the festival.c
Very well known in China, Guan Hu is the author of some of the biggest successes of recent years, such as the war epic The Brigade of 800 (2021). He returned to his indie roots with Black Dogwhich takes place just before the opening of the 2008 Olympics, and indirectly deals with the hordes of abandoned dogs ahead of time. “When we make films that are a little more intimate, there is less pressure, they become more sincere films”he explained to AFP in Cannes. The film was also cited on Friday in a somewhat special prize list: that of the Palm Dog, which awarded the grand jury prize, the 2nd most important trophy, Xin, female Jack Russell crossed greyhound and second character in the film. The Un Certain Regard jury, chaired by Quebecer Xavier Dolan, also rewarded Souleymane’s story by Boris Lojkine, as well as his actor Abou Sangaré. The film follows a delivery man who must pass his asylum interview, the key to obtaining papers. Non-professional, Abou Sangaré who plays the title role, is himself undocumented.
Three kilometers to the end of the worldalso in the running for the Palme d’Or, received the Queer Palm on Friday evening, an alternative prize awarded each year in Cannes to a feature film tackling LGBT issues. The film by Romanian Emanuel Parvu shows the ravages of homophobia in a country where only the beauty of nature relieves the weight of traditions. Adi, 17, spends the summer in his native village nestled in the Danube Delta. One evening, he is violently attacked in the street. The next day, his world is completely turned upside down, his parents no longer look at him as before and the apparent tranquility of the village begins to crack. In this drama, “I wanted to embody Romanian society so we have the church with the priest, the law with the policeman and the small society with the family. I wanted the mother to embody society in the broad sense and the father the sphere of the family.the director, also an actor, told AFP. The Queer Palm jury this year was chaired by Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont (Close, Girl), which was to decide between 18 feature films in all sections combined.