Cannes 2024: ‘Black Dog’, Anasuya Sengupta win top honours

The 77th Cannes Film Festival has announced the winners of its Un Certain Regard Prize, with Chinese director Guan Hu’s film “Black Dog” taking the top honour.

The film, about a damaged loner returning to his desert hometown after a spell in prison and finding a kindred spirit in an equally world-weary greyhound, beat 17 other titles to take the top prize in the festival’s second-most prestigious competitive section.

On the other hand, Anasuya Sengupta, who hails from Kolkata, won the Un Certain Regard Prize for Best Actress for her performance in “The Shameless”. The film, directed and written by Bulgarian filmmaker Konstantin Bojanov, revolves around Renuka, played by Anasuya, who escapes from a Delhi brothel after killing a police officer. The film also stars Omara Shetty as Renuka’s love interest.

Receiving the award, Anasuya, her voice trembling with emotion, dedicated it to “the queer community and other marginalised communities for bravely fighting a fight they really shouldn’t have to.”

Amidst persistent cheers and applause, she concluded her brief acceptance speech with a powerful statement, “We don’t need to be colonised to know how very, very pathetic colonisers are.”

Other big wins include Boris Lojkine’s “The Story of Souleymane”, which received the Jury Prize, and a performance award for Abou Sangare. Rungano Nyoni’s film “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” and Roberto Minervini’s “The Damned” tied for Best Director.

Check out the full list of Un Certain Regard winners below.

Prix Un Certain Regard: “Black Dog” by Guan Hu.

Jury Prize: “The Story of Souleymane” by Boris Lojkine.

Best Director: (tie) “The Damned” by Roberto Minervini and “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” by Rungano Nyoni.

Performance Awards: Anasuya Sengupta for “The Shameless” and Abou Sangare for “The Story of Souleymane”.

Prix de la Jeunesse (Youth Prize): Louise Courvoisier for “Holy Cow”.

Special Mention: “Norah” by Tawfik Alzaidi.

The winners of the In Competition films will be revealed at the closing ceremony of the 77th Cannes Film Festival today (May 25).