As Hollywood stars prepare to take their bow at this weekend’s Academy Awards, the canine stars of international cinema are set to make their bow wow wow with the announcement of the nominations for the Fido Awards 2021, the annual celebration of our four-legged friends on the big screen, which takes place on 23rd May.
Founder of the Fidos, Toby Rose says, “The pandemic meant sadness to too many and inflicted lockdown and a swathe of regulations on people around the world. But throughout man’s best friend has remained steadfast – to prove the point there has been a surge in households getting a dog in the UK. At the same time, dogs have been no slouch in front of the camera and continue to make their mark in the movies. The sumptuous selection of dogs’ roles in the 2021 set of Fidos nominations is pooch proof positive”.
Of this year’s nominations, Toby says, “Dogs have come to the fore in film in these pandemic times so much so that standout performances required the creation of a new category – Dog Dox. Other notable canine contributions include key cameos in Oscar hottie Nomadland to the full-scale homage to hounds in The Truffle Hunters. Plus a yard dog tussles with Mark Wahlberg in Spencer Confidential. Dogs have shown themselves as a crucial comfort in these lockdown days and have once again demonstrated their ability to steal a big-screen scene”.
A pedigree panel of judges, who are eminent critics and film commentators, has selected the shortlist and will decide the eventual winners. The jury members consist of:
- Kaleem Aftab – film correspondent for The i. and broadcaster
- Wendy Mitchell – film journalist and author of Citizen Canine
- Rita di Santo – Morning Star’s film critic
- Anna Smith – film critic, broadcaster and host of Girls On Film podcast
- Tim Robey – Daily Telegraph’s film critic
Here is the list of nominated films for Fido Awards 2021 in each category:
Mutt Moment
- Nomadland (dir. Chloé Zhao)
- Sound of Metal (dir. Darius Marder)
- The Human Voice (dir. Pedro Almodóvar)
Blockbuster Bowser
- Love and Monsters (dir. Michael Matthews)
- Honest Thief (dir. Mark Williams)
- Spenser Confidential (dir. Peter Berg)
Comedy Canine
- Bill and Ted Face The Music (dir. Dean Parisot)
- Think Like A Dog (dir. Gil Junger)
- Soul (dir. Pete Doctor & Kent Powers)
Rom Com Rover
- 23 Walks (dir. Paul Morrison)
- Freshman Year (dir. Jude Okwudiafor Johnson)
- The Lady and the Tramp (dir. Charlie Bean)
Historical Hound
- Rebecca (dir. Ben Wheatley)
- Space Dogs (dir. Inna Evlannikova)
- Summerland (dir.Jessica Swale)
Dog Dox
- Stray (dir. Elizabeth Lo)
- The Truffle Hunters (dir. Michael Dwek & Gregory Kershaw)
- I Am Greta (dir Nathan Grossman)
In addition, there is the Palm Dog USA Award for best dog in an Oscar-nominated film and the ultimate Best In World for the supreme champion.
The winners are set to be announced at a special invite-only event at the Fidos Pop Up Shop at Kiosk N1C, Lower Stable Street, Coal Drops Yard in London’s King’s Cross at noon (12 pm) on Sunday 23rd May.
As a run-up to the award ceremony, the Fidos Pop Up Shop is open from 21-24 May at the Kiosk N1C, featuring collars, leads, bandanas and beds from Creature Clothes creators of trophy collars for the Fidos and the Palm Dog Awards. Dogs can pose up for a pooch photo.
The Fidos herald the patter of much paw activity this year with the annual Palm Dog Awards due to be held during Cannes Film Festival.
