Dogs Are the Main Character at Cannes
The 2024 Cannes Film Festival has been the site of many a dazzling film and fashion moment, but none has topped a furry phenomenon taking place on the red carpet.
Dogs, it seems, are the new movie stars. Messi, a Border Collie better known as Snoop from the 2023 film Anatomy of a Fall, kicked off this year's Cannes opening ceremony: The blue-eyed heartthrob climbed the carpeted stairs of Cannes' famed Grand Lumière Theater before the arrival of any (human) celebrities.
Posing on his hind legs for clamoring photographers, Messi made for quite the opening act. But he wasn't there for appearances' sake — Messi was on the clock, rehearsing for his new French TV show, Messi: The Cannes Film Festival From a Dog’s Eye View.
According to IndieWire, it's a series of eight one-minute episodes documenting the event from Messi's POV — the pup will even "interview" talent (actor Raphaël Mezrahi will provide his "voice").
Messi wasn't the only dog to make a Cannes cameo. Demi Moore attended a photocall for The Substance with her palm-sized Chihuahua, Pilaf, cradled in her arms. Pilaf, inseparable from Moore, is used to stealing the show — the pooch sat front row at Gucci's Cruise 2025 runway show in London just last week.
The New York Times notes that Cannes has long embraced man's best friend. In 2001, it introduced the Palm Dog award for the best performance by a live or animated canine or group of canines (Messi clinched the honor in 2023).
The two-legged stars at Cannes, from Greta Gerwig to Hunter Schafer, gave it their all — but it's pretty hard to compete with a Good Boy.
