A Chilean dog wins the Palme Dog of Cannes 2026
Yuri, heroine of The female dog (La Perra) by Dominga Sotomayor, succeeds Panda from The Love We Remain.
While waiting for the Palme d’Or, here is the Palme Dog 2026.
After Messi for Anatomy of a fallor Panda for The Love we have left last year, a new dog stole the show on the Croisette. Yuri, heroine of The female dog (La Perra) by Dominga Sotomayor, has just won the Palme Dog, the prize which has rewarded the best canine performance at the Cannes Film Festival since 2001.
Presented at the Quinzaine des Cinéastes, The female dog follows Silvia, a woman living on a remote, windswept island off the coast of Chile. She leads a peaceful existence between harvesting algae and life as a couple, until the arrival of a stray puppy, Yuri, who brightens up her daily life. But when the animal suddenly disappears, a childhood trauma resurfaces. The film is adapted from the novel of the same name by Colombian author Pilar Quintana. And Yuri’s story goes far beyond the framework of cinema. Before filming, the dog lived in a Mirada Animal Chile shelter, an association helping abandoned animals. The production of the film, led by PLANTA, then set up an adoption and training program supervised by educators Nicolás Carrillo and Marcela Carrasco.
The role of Yuri puppy was played by Tormenta María, a young abandoned dog adopted by a member of the film crew after filming. Good news: at the end of production, Yuri also found a new family and now lives in safety.
Produced by PLANTA and RT Features, The female dog was unveiled as a world premiere at the Quinzaine des Cinéastes. The film will be screened during the resumption of the Fortnight, from June 11 to 22, in more than 30 French theaters, before a release planned for spring 2027 under the banner of Nour Films.
