Un Certain Regard Awards
by Alexa Dalby
Guan Hu’s Black Dog has won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival (May 14-25).
It is the Cannes debut for Mr Six director Guan and follows a former convict who forms an unlikely connection with the titular animal, as he clears stray dogs in his remote hometown on the edge of the Gobi desert before the 2008 Olympic Games. Playtime are handling international sales.
The jury prize went to The Story Of Souleymane from Boris Lojkine, back at the festival 10 years after his 2014 feature Hope, with the story of a Guinean food delivery man who has two days to fabricate a story for his asylum application interview in Lyon.
The best director prize was awarded ex aequo to Roberto Minervini for The Damned and Rungano Nyoni for On Becoming A Guinea Fowl.
Anasuya Sengupta won best actress for The Shameless, with The Story of Souleymane star Abou Sangare collecting best actor.
Louise Courvoisier’s Vingt Dieux picked up the youth award.
The jury was presided over by Xavier Dolan and included actress Vicky Krieps and filmmaker Maimouna Doucoure, Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir, and American film critic and writer Todd McCarthy.
The 2024 selection included 18 features, eight of which are first features also competing for the Caméra d’or.
