The film ‘EO' (Polish: IO) had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded the Jury Prize. Later it was shown at festivals in Toronto and Gdynia. It also opened the New Horizons Film Festival in Wrocław. It received the Ribera del Duero Award for Best Director at the Valladolid International Film Festival in Spain and won the Arab Critic’s Award for Best European Film.

Jerzy Skolimowski was also recognised for his film by a group of students from 25 countries, who decided to award him the European University Film Award (EUFA). Paweł Mykietyn, the composer of the score for this Polish-Italian co-production, received the European Film Award for it, as well as the Cannes Soundtrack Award. EO's soundtrack was also nominated for the 13th Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA) in the independent film (foreign language) category.

The film was also recognised by critics, including the New York Film Critics Circle (Best International Film award) and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography by Michał Dymek and second place for the score). The Polish candidate for the Oscar was also listed among the five best international films by the USA's National Board of Review and the French Cahiers du Cinéma ranked it fourth on a similar list. Meanwhile, a journalist from The New York Times recognised the Polish-Italian ‘EO’ as the best film to be presented to worldwide audiences in 2022.

Plot and filmmakers

It is the story of a donkey in an increasingly convoluted reality. Changing hands, the animal meets both good and bad people on its way. The story is a film allegory, and the title refers to the sound made by donkeys.

Ewa Piaskowska, alongside Jerzy Skolimowski, is the co-writer of the film, the title of which is a recreation of the sound made by donkeys. Michał Dymek, Michał Englert and Paweł Edelman are responsible for cinematography, the head of production is Tomasz Morawski, and Agnieszka Glińska is responsible for editing. The film's cast includes Lorenzo Zurzolo, Sandra Drzymalska, Mateusz Kościukiewicz and Tomasz Organek.

/photo: Aneta&Filip Gębscy, IO promotional materials/