Veteran director Jerzy Skolimowski returns in triumphant form with this lovely tale of animal life. Sometimes harsh, sometimes sweet, always beautiful, EO tells the story of a donkey and its journey through a world dominated by humans. As the film begins, EO is living a happy life as part of a circus, performing alongside Kasandra (Sandra Dryzmalska). When animal-rights protesters disrupt the situation, the poor creature is shipped off to Italy; the rest of the film portrays its subsequent adventures, which include becoming part of a petting zoo, getting involved in a Polish soccer game, and encountering a countess.
As certain readers might have gathered by now, EO is an homage to Robert Bresson’s masterpiece Au hasard Balthazar. Though their methods are different, Bresson and Skolimowski both use their animal protagonists as litmus tests for humanity, with their varying treatments showing the best and the worst in us. Where Bresson is austere and suggestive, Skolimowski is emotive and lyrical; this is a wonderfully moving film.
Prix du Jury (tied), Cannes 2022
Community Partner
Hola, Tako, Marietta, Ettore, Rocco, Mela, Sandra Drzymalska, Tomasz Organek, Mateusz Kościukiewicz, Lorenzo Zurzolo, Isabelle Huppert
Poland/UK/Italy
2022
In Polish, English, French, and Italian with English subtitles
Animal Cruelty
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check Out What's Playing at the VIFF Centre
Akashi
In Mayumi Yoshida’s tender drama, struggling artist Kana journeys to Tokyo to attend her grandmother’s funeral. While there, she reconnects with her childhood love and stumbles across a family secret that prompts her to reconsider her place in the world.
The History of Concrete
After attending a workshop on pitching saccharine Hallmark movies, John Wilson tries to apply all the same best practices to his documentary about concrete. Frequently absurd and endlessly entertaining detours, asides, and digressions ensue.
NAZA
NAZA is a codeword euphemistically used by Israeli intelligence to indicate the number of civilians it expects will be killed in an airstrike. This chilling documentary exposes the policy and process of state-sanctioned mass killings.
I Am Not a Witch
Rungano Nyoni's acclaimed debut feature is a visually striking satire about a 9-year-old orphan accused of witchcraft in contemporary Zambia. Screening in the latest African Cinema Now! series, The Witch at the Edge of the Screen.
Queen at Sea
An academic is pitted against her stepfather in a moral crisis over the care of her mother, who lives with dementia. Winner of the Silver Bear Jury Prize and Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance at the 2026 Berlinale.
Image: © Seafaring
Credits
Executive Producer
Jeremy Thomas
Producer
Ewa Piaskowska, Jerzy Skolimowski
Screenwriter
Ewa Piaskowska, Jerzy Skolimowski
Cinematography
Michał Dymek
Editor
Agnieszka Glińska
Original Music
Paweł Mykietyn
Director
Photo by Michał Englert
Jerzy Skolimowski
As an actor, Jerzy Skolimowski has appeared in White Nights, Eastern Promises, and The Avengers. His 2008 thriller Four Nights With Anna opened the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes and won the Special Jury Prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival. Essential Killing (2010) won Best Film at the Mar del Plata International Film Festival, the Polish Film Awards, and Gdynia FIlm Festival (where he also won for Best Director), and the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. Skolimowski is an accomplished painter who has taken part in the Venice Biennale and exhibited across Europe and the US.
Filmography: 30 Door Key (1991); Four Nights With Anna (2008); Essential Killing (2010); 11 Minutes (2015)