“At the beginning of the film it is mentioned that the film is dedicated to the memory of Robert Bresson. However, the story told in EO has nothing to do with Au hasard Balthazar, except for the donkey. In Bresson’s film, the donkey is one of the many heroes, but in our film it is the leader. There are no other convergent themes in the script”, Skolimowski said in a statement.
EO is the story of a simple donkey, starting in a Polish circus and ending in an Italian slaughterhouse. Passed from hand to hand, the animal meets both good and bad people on its way. The story is a cinematic allegory about the fate of a simple donkey in an increasingly complex modern world.
“In today's world, drastic shipments of Polish horse meat to Italy take place. Horses are transported alive, tightly packed in trucks, in totally inhumane conditions, and some of them die during this transport. The protagonist of my film is saved in Italy from this transport and even experiences the happiest moments of his life, which, however, have a dramatic end. We want to move the viewer, and to make the film a protest against the cruelty that people have towards animals”, said Skolimowski.
The authors of the script are Ewa Piaskowska and Jerzy Skolimowski. The cast includes Sandra Drzymalska, Mateusz Kościukiewicz and Tomasz Organek among others.
EO was produced by Poland’s Skopia Film in coproduction with Italy’s Alia Film with a budget of 2.3 m EUR / 10.5 m PLN. The production received funding from the Polish Film Institute, the Subcarpathian Regional Film Fund and the Warmia-Masuria Film Fund.
The film was shot in 2021 on location in Podkarpacie and in the Warmia and Masuria region among others.
HanWay Films is handling the sales.
Production Information:
Producer:
Skopia Film
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Coproducer:
Alia Film (Italy)
Credits:
Director: Jerzy Skolimowski
Screenwriter: Jerzy Skolimowski, Ewa Piaskowska
DoP: Michał Dymek
Cast: Sandra Drzymalska, Mateusz Kościukiewicz, Tomasz Organek
