Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski said his latest film EO is meant to raise awareness against animal exploitation. The film premiered on Thursday at the Cannes Film Festival.
Through the eyes of donkey EO, the film explores human mistreatment of animals and nature. “I would like this film to reach as many people’s hearts and minds as possible. Let my donkey speak to you from the screen, look into his eyes,” Skolimowski said in a video message.
“I protest against the industrial breeding of animals for meat. And I protest against breeding animals for fur for ladies,” he added. The movie is one of the 21 films competing for the festival’s top prizes.
EO is a grey donkey with sad eyes. He meets good and bad people in his life and experiences luck, bliss, and despair. Through all of it, he never loses his innocence.
The film is a tribute to Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) by Robert Bresson, Skolimowski said. The movie is about a donkey who is given to different owners who mistreat him.
In 2010, Skolimowski told Télérama magazine that Au Hasard Balthazar was the most important film for him “because it’s the only one that really moved me, that touched me deeply.”
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