‘EO Director Jerzy Skolimowski And CoWriter Ewa Piaskowska On Challenges Of Working With Animals: “We Were Terribly Optimistic” Contenders Film: The Nominees

He is now 80 years old. Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski proved age is just a number when his film EO premiered at Cannes last year, winning the Jury Prize for this picaresque tale of a donkey turning good to evil. His streak continued this year when the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best International Film, the Academy's first honor in 60 years.

Joining his wife and co-writer Eva Piaskowska on Deadline's Contenders Film. Taking part in a panel discussion at The Nominees event, Skolimovski revealed what inspired him to make an animal-centric film.

RELATED: The Contenders Movie. The Nominees - Full Term Coverage

"I owe a lot to Robert Bresson and his [1966] Au Hassard Balthazar ," he said. “One of the main characters is a donkey, but that's a completely different story. Bresson's film tells the story of some people in a small French town, and the donkey has a mate. EO is a road movie where the main character is a donkey. He goes from place to place and meets different people, and we see the world around him through his eyes. In fact, he is the main character of the film, with his ideas, his imagination, his dreams, his hopes and his fears. He is an absolute character.

Peskovskaya admitted that when they wrote the script, they were not worried about the difficulties they would face during rehearsals.

“When we were writing, we were incredibly optimistic,” he said, “because we had scenes where the donkey behaved like a normal actor; looking at things, judging, fearing, reacting to things. So it was a big surprise for him. us when we got to the set and realized that the donkey had a very stoic face. Not a great phrase. Thus, the emotional power of the character was greatly realized through the assembly.

"EO"

The film's powerful music also helps, and Skolimovski was quick to praise the director.

"My composer, Pavel Miketsi, is a very famous classical music composer," he said, "and fortunately, he does not treat film music as an inferior work." He threw all his ambition, knowledge and talent into it, and my order was: “Paul, I need you to get inside the donkey's head and tell me his inner monologue. That's what Pavel did, and it's the film's crowning achievement in terms of sound. Because it allowed the public to really identify with the animal; they could read his thoughts and feelings correctly.

Check out Monday's video panel.

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