Dog on Trial

Dog on Trial (Le Procès du chien), previously known as Who Let the Dog Bite?, is a 2024 Swiss-French courtroom drama film co-written and directed by Laetitia Dosch, in her directorial debut. It stars Dosch as a lawyer who defends a dog on trial. It is loosely based on a real case in France involving a dog that was biting strangers.

It had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on 19 May 2024, where it won the Palm Dog Award.

Plot
Avril is an idealistic lawyer with a predilection for hopeless cases. She agrees to defend Dariuch's dog Cosmos, who has bitten three people, leading to the first canine trial since the Middle Ages. She feels the pressure to win the case, as otherwise, her unusual client will be euthanized.

Cast

 * Laetitia Dosch as Avril Lucciani
 * François Damiens as Dariuch Michovski
 * Jean-Pascal Zadi as Marc
 * Anne Dorval as Roseline Bruckenheimer
 * Kodi as Cosmos
 * Mathieu Demy as The Judge
 * Anabela Moreira as Lorene Furtado
 * Pierre Deladonchamps as Jerome
 * Tom Fiszelson

Production
Dog on Trial is the directorial debut of French actress Laetitia Dosch, who wrote the film's screenplay with Anne-Sophie Bailly. It is loosely based a real-life story of a trial in France which centred on a dog that had repeatedly bitten strangers. Dosch was fascinated by how the case had captivated the entire village where it took place, where demonstrators protested the fact that the dog was treated by the law as an object rather than a living being. In the early stages of the film's development, Dosch briefly considered changing the subject the film after an encounter with filmmaker Justine Triet, who previously directed Dosch in the film Age of Panic (2013), and revealed to Dosch the premise of her next film Anatomy of a Fall (2023) which similarly centers on a trial, a child, a blind person and a dog.

The film is produced by Lionel Baier and Agnieszka Ramu for Bande à Part Films (Switzerland) and by Thomas and Mathieu Verhaeghe for Atelier de Production (France), in co-production with RTS Radio Télévision Suisse, SRG SSR and France 2 Cinéma.

Release
Dog on Trial was selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 19 May 2024.

International sales are handled by mk2 Films. The Jokers Films is set to release the film in France on 11 September 2024, while Pathé Films AG will release it in Switzerland.