FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2/8/23

MEDIA CONTACTS

Charles Coleman, charles@facets.org 

Paul Gonter, paul@facets.org

FACETS Presents Jerzy Skolimowski’s Oscar Nominated EO

In-person screenings at FACETS‘ Cinema February 17, 26 & March 3-5

CHICAGO—FACETS is excited to announce the Chicago encore engagement of Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO, winner of the NY Film Circle Critics Award and the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Screenings will be available February 17, 26 and March 3-5, 2023. Tickets can be purchased in advance through FACETS’ website and cost $12/person per screening, and $10/FACETS Members with proof of active membership.

Full synopsis, trailer, and ticketing can be found on FACETS’ website here.

Synopsis 

Winning the Cannes Jury Prize and NY Film Circle Critics Award, Jerzy Skolimowski’s first feature in seven years is a touching hero’s journey that follows the life of EO, a donkey.

As the film begins, EO is living a happy life as part of a circus, where is adored, performing alongside Kasandra (Sandra Dryzmalska). When animal-rights protesters disrupt the situation, and liberate him, EO moves on to a horse farm (from which he escapes), after which he briefly becomes the mascot of a soccer team. As he journeys through streets, valleys, and streams to Italy, the intimacy of the camera-work shows a world of pain, love, loss, and the brutality of humans. Surprisingly, veteran and legendary actress Isabelle Huppert (The Piano Teacher) makes an appearance as The Countess in a palatial Italian villa where the donkey briefly sojourns.

This immersive drama by 84-year-old Polish auteur Jerzy Skolimowski (Four Nights with Anna, The Shout, Deep End), depicts a visually spectacular, often surreal odyssey of the eponymous winsome gray donkey (played by six different Polish and Sardinian donkeys). Paying homage to Robert Bresson’s masterpiece, Au Hasard Balthazar, yet wholly its own, Skolimowski has made an emotive, lyrical and wonderfully moving film, which is visually inventive, placing the viewer directly in the heart and mind of the four-legged protagonist, in a journey marked by absurdity and warmth in equal measure.

EO has received an Oscar nomination for Best International Feature Film. (2023)

Film Information 

Directed by Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland/Italy, 2022, DCP, 88 mins.

Screening in Polish, French, English, Spanish and Italian, with English subtitles.

Showtimes 

In-Person Screening at FACETS‘ Cinema February 17, 26 & March 3-5, 2023

About FACETS

Established in 1975, FACETS expands perspectives and affirms a shared humanity through inclusive engagement with film. FACETS‘ mission is to create cinematic experiences for youth and adults that foster vital conversations and community action through film exhibitions, media education, and film resources. Learn more at facets.org 

FACETS presents the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival (CICFF), the largest children’s film festival in the world and an Oscar®-qualifying children’s film festival. Learn more at facets.org/cicff 

###