Cannes: White God wins Un Certain Regard Prize

Kornél Mundruczó’s "audacious drama about how a young girl’s separation from her dog leads to a full-blown canine uprising" (Variety) White God, won the Un Certain Regard Prize at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday. Focusing on a dog who organizes the strays and mutts of Budapest to rebel and turn on their masters, Hungarian director Kornel Mundruczo's film won raves for the way it uses what could be a horror-movie scenario to create a potent metaphor for class oppression.

Argentinean director Pablo Trapero, president of the Certain Regard jury, praised "the force and originality of the films presented this year." Twenty films representing 23 countries screened in Un Certain Regard. In addition to Trapero, the jury included Criterion Collection president Peter Becker; Norway-based actress Maria Bonnevie; French actress Geraldine Pailhas; and Senegalese filmmaker Moussa Toure.
Un Certain Regard is typically devoted to films that are more adventurous than the films in Cannes’ main competition, with an emphasis on young and first-time filmmakers. This year's selection was made up of 20 films, including Mathieu Amalric's The Blue Room, Jessica Hausner's Amour Fou, Ned Benson's The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, Lisandro Alonso's Jauja, Pascale Ferran's Bird People, Asia Argento's Incompresa and Ryan Gosling's controversial debut feature, Lost River.
White God is the first feature film supported by the Hungarian National Film Fund and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.

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