The nominations for 20th anniversary FIDO Awards 2026 have been announced ahead of the awards ceremony for the Doggy ‘Oscars’, the prestigious FIDOS (For Incredible Dogs On Screen), nestled between the BAFTA and Oscar award ceremonies. The event takes place on Sunday 1st March 2026 at 1pm at the British Film Institute in Stephen Street, London.
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FIDOS founder Toby Rose with winners and guests from FIDO Awards 2025 Photo: Nick Wall
The FIDOS main categories: Blockbuster Bowser, Comedy Canine, Rom Com Rover, Historical Hound, and Mutt Moment. But his year’s bumper litter of canine turns has two new categories: Horror Hound and Femme Fido. Nominated films with four-legged stars include Marty Supreme, Hamnet, Pillion, Frankenstein, The Summer with Carmen and Dragonfly. From the winners in these sections, an outstanding performance will be chosen and declared BFI Best in World.
In addition, there is the FiDogManitarian, an award that honours an individual who organises a unique celebration of the bond between canines and the human race.
As a special 20th FIDO anniversary award, the Creature Clothes Crown is being presented to Dogspiracy, Paul Crompton’s documentary that exposes illegal puppy mills and puppy smuggling in US.
Toby Rose, founder of Palm Dog and FIDOS says, “Over the years, the ceremony has given prizes to memorable stand-out canine performances such as Uggie in The Artist and the charming corgi ensemble in The Queen, when Helen Mirren sent a message of congratulation to her canine co-stars.
“Since inception, dogs have moved increasingly centre stage”, he continues, “FIDO star Messi from Anatomy of A Fall even managed to secure a seat at the Oscars. Significantly, Indy in Good Boy recently scooped an award against human actors. Bow and very wow.
“FIDOS 2026 has seen an unprecedented roll call of eligible dog big screen performances. So numerous were the canine turns over the last year, that two new categories were created to accommodate the abundance of dog stars – Femme Fido and Horror Hound.”
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Toby adds, “To mark the occasion of the 20thdog gong sees the arrival of the Creature Clothes Crown for a standout doggie film. FIDOS 2026 promises to be more four legged and more fabulous than ever. May the best dogs win”
The top dogs are chosen by a jury of top film journalists including Anna Smith from the Girls On Film podcast; Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph; Rita Di Santo of FIPRESCI; Damon Wise of Deadline, author and journalist Wendy Mitchell and author and programmer Kaleem Aftab.
The sister ceremony of the famous Palm Dog Awards, held annually at the Cannes Film Festival, the FIDOS recognizes the finest onscreen dog performances over the past year. As The Guardian wrote, “Forget the Oscars, the FIDOS are best in show.”
FIDO AWARD NOMINATIONS 2026
Historical Hound
Hamnet (dir. Chloé Zhao) – foreshore terrier with Paul Mescal
Nuremberg (dir. James Vanderbilt) – aristocratic retrievers
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (dir. Simon Curtis) – Isis the yellow labrador retriever
Rom Com Rover
The Summer With Carmen (dir. Zacharias Mavroidis) – Carmen, the chihuahua
Is This Thing On? (dir. Bradley Cooper) – Bradley’s own labradoodle, Charlie
Pillion (dir. Harry Lighton) – with Rosie the Rottweiler and Hippo the dachshund.
Mutt Moment
Marty Supreme (dir. Josh Safdie) – Moses, the Belgian Malinois mix
I Swear (dir. Kirk Jones) – Rosie, the springer spaniel
The Alto Knights (dir. Barry Levinson) – De Niro’s own pet dogs, Bob (a Maltese) and Nancy (a terrier mix)
Blockbuster Bowser
Superman (dir. James Gunn – Krypto, CGI clone of director James Gunn’s dog, Ozu
Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning (dir. Christopher McQuarrie) – Huskies
Nobody 2 ( dir. Timo Tjahjanto) – Carbon, a shepherd-husky mix
Comedy Canine
The Roses (dir. Jay Roach) – Rottweiler,belonging to Alison Janney’s character
The Naked Gun (dir. Akiva Schaffer) – Buddy, the labrador retriever
Merv (dir. Jessica Swale) – Merv is played by Gus, a terrier-mix rescue dog
Horror Hounds
Good Boy (dir. Ben Leonberg) – Indy, the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever
Frankenstein (dir Guillermo del Toro) – real and CGIi working dogs
Together (dir. Michael Shanks) – a blue heeler, and a mixed breed
Femme Fido – in recognition of this year’s fab female-focused FIDOs contenders
Dragonfly (dir. Paul Andrew Williams) – Dixie plays Sabre, the American bulldog
Die My Love (dir. Lynne Ramsay) – Creature and Yeti, who play the couple’s dog
Christy (dir. David Michôd) – Casey, the pomeranian