Hungarian stray dog film Feher Isten (White God), from Kornel Mundruczo, snagged the Un Certain Regard top prize on Friday, as well as the Palm Dog prize, at the Cannes International Film Festival.
The film took the top prize from the Cannes forum that translates to "A Particular Outlook" in English, reports Reuters. The forum looks for innovative and fresh films and directors.
The horror-thriller film White God follows a pack of stray dogs that hound the Hungary capital city of Budapest. The director said that it wasn't easy to put together and took six months just to get the dogs familiar enough with each other before shooting could even start. "It certainly wasn't easy," Mundruczo said, "but it was an incredible experience."
According to The Associated Press, Mundruczo said that use of dogs was meant to be a statement. "I always use dogs to symbolize minorities." He added, "I wanted to tell this tale as a metaphor about the European fears about dealing with minorities."
The Hungarian director noted that he came up with the idea for the movie as he watches nationalist parties gain traction across Europe, especially in his own country.
Swedish film Turist, from director Ruben Ostlund, took second place, snagging the jury prize.