Workers roll out the red carpet before the 66th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 15, 2013, in Cannes, France
The Cannes Film Festival, which ended on May 26, is known for a few big awards given to the films in competition. The major prize, the Palme d’Or, went this year to Blue is the Warmest Color, with other feature-film awards going to Inside Llewelyn Davis, Heli, A Touch of Sin, The Past, Nebraska and Like Father, Like Son.
And though the actual Cannes jury limits their awards to categories like Best Director or Best Actress or Best Screenplay, those aren’t the only chances for a movie to make a splash at the French fest.
Case in point: the Palm Dog.
(MORE: What You Missed at Cannes)
For more than a decade, a group of film critics have given the award to honor the best canine actor of the festival. This year, the paw-stigious prize went to the dog who played Baby Boy, Liberace’s nearly-blind poodle in the HBO biopic Behind the Candelabra. According to the Palm Dog judges, the poodle’s crucial role in bringing the film’s romantic leads together helped show the power of dogs on screen. The actor who portrays Baby Boy is Vincent, a year-old poodle. This year’s runners-up were the dogs of The Bling Ring.
And while the Palm Dog may be the weirdest and funniest prize at Cannes, it’s not the only unexpected award bestowed during the festival. There’s also the Queer Palm for a film that addresses LGBTQ issues (this year’s winner was A Stranger by the Lake), the Ecumenical Jury prize for a film that addresses spiritual issues (The Past) and the funnily name Vulcan Prize, officially connected to the festival, for technical arts (Grigris).