EnergaCamerimage, the cinematography-focused film festival about to take place in Torun, Poland on Nov. 12-19, will bestow one of its highest honors to writer-director Jerzy Skolimowski, who will receive the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region Film Award 2022.
Skolimowski, a longtime stalwart of Polish cinema, made news in Cannes earlier this year when “EO,” which he wrote and directed, shared the festival’s Jury Prize. The film follows the titular donkey, abducted from his beloved circus-performer owner by animal rights activists, as he endures the full gamut of human behavior, good and bad. It’s a story of people’s hopes and dreams, reflected via the perspective of a donkey. At Cannes it delighted viewers with the spectacle of youthful filmic energy created by an 84-year-old master of European cinema.
Not surprisingly, “EO” was selected in August by the Polish Film Institute as the country’s candidate for this year’s Oscar race.
The filmmaker will receive his Camerimage award during the festival’s jubilee edition. It will be presented to him by Marshal Piotr Całbecki just before a special screening of “IO.”
Skolimowski began his film career as a screenwriter of such films as “Innocent Sorcerers” (1960) and “Knife in the Water” (1962)” – part of the outburst of creativity known as the Polish New Wave, which itself was symbolic of Eastern European art flourishing under a repressive Soviet-dominated regime. He then found success as an actor, director, poet and painter. His films took home accolades from such film festivals as Venice and Berlin, in addition to Cannes.
The screening of “EO” at Camerimage will be open to all members of the American Film Academy participating in the Festival. Skolimowski will also receive a financial award, which he has decided to spend entirely on the promotion of “EO” to raise the film’s chances of securing an Academy Award® nomination. A Q&A with the filmmaker will follow the screening.
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