'Anatomy of a Fall's Messi the Dog Is Getting His Own TV Show

The big picture

Messi, the Border Collie, stole the show
Anatomy of a fall
and now she will star in her own TV show at the Cannes Film Festival.
The show will allow viewers to see the world through Messi's eyes and voice, as he interviews guests with the innocence of a dog.
Messi's rise to stardom includes winning the 2023 Palm Dog award and even making an appearance at the Oscars.

The French film Anatomy of a fall received five Academy Award nominations, but it was another aspect of the film that has everyone talking: Messi, the Border Collie that starred Anatomy of a fall. Messi's performance was widely praised as one of the best animal roles ever seen on screen, and now the four-legged actor is back in front of the camera. Messi will star in his own TV show at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, IndieWire reported. It looks like this year's installment of the iconic festival will truly be a dog's world.

The Messi show will be established at the festival, as it should be Messi himself was born in France and lives with his handler near Paris. The show will actually be a short program that will allow viewers to see each other through the eyes and, in a way, the voice of Messi, according to Cannes production company D18 Paris. Details remain scarce, but the show will reportedly run from dawn to dusk and “will be a opportunity for Messi to ask any question to his guest with the innocence of a dog,” said D18. “When you're the current international star, you can do anything… and Messi dares to do everything!” added the producer.

The show, as it is officially called Messi: the Cannes Film Festival from a dog's eye, it will be a series of eight one-minute episodes and will be broadcast on several French television channels. The idea for the show came about Tim Newman, who will produce the show for D18, while Loïc Pourageaux will direct Raphael Mezrahi will give the voice of Messi.

Messi has become a big dog star

Anatomy of a fall featured outstanding performances from Sandra Hüller i Milo Machado-Graner, but Messi became a superstar in his own right when the film was released in 2023. Messi played Snoop, and stole the movie during a scene where he has to play a dog with an overdose of aspirin, in front of Sandra (Hüller) and Daniel (Machado-Graner) intervene and carry out rescue measures. While he may just be a dog, Messi's performance got everyone in Hollywood talking, and while the film went on to become an Oscar nominee, Messi won a special award himself: the gos de palma 2023, given by Cannes to the best interpretation of dogs of the year.

Messi became such a star that he even attended the Oscars for a brief period, despite initial reports that he would not be making an appearance. The dog filmed a series of reaction shots before the start of the ceremony and the host of the Oscars Jimmy Kimmel he even mentioned Messi's popularity during his opening monologue. A clip of Messi appearing to “applaud” other nominees also went viral.

The Messi show will last during the Cannes festival, from May 13 to 25. Anatomy of a fall is now streaming on Hulu.