Skolimowski won the prize for 'EO,' a story about a donkey's journey across modern Europe.
GUILLAUME HORCAJUELO/PAP/EPA

Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski and two Belgian filmmakers have received ex aequo a jury prize at the 75th Cannes Film Festival.

Skolimowski won the prize for ‘EO,’ a story about a donkey’s journey across modern Europe.

The Polish/Italian coproduction looks at modern Europe through the eyes of a simple donkey, EO, who starts out in a Polish circus and ends up in an Italian slaughterhouse. Passed from hand to hand, the animal meets both good and bad people on its way. The story is a cinematic allegory about the fate of a simple creature in an increasingly complex modern world.

“I would like to thank my donkeys,” said Skolimowski, who expressed his gratitude to all six donkeys used in the film in his acceptance speech.

The jury prize also went to Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix Van Groeningen for their film “The Eight Mountains.”

Swedish director Ruben Ostlund’s class warfare comedy ‘Triangle of Sadness’ won the Palme d’Or, giving Ostlund one of cinema’s most prestigious prizes for the second time. Ostlund won the Palme d’Or in 2017 for his film ‘The Square,’ a satire about a prestigious art curator.