European University Film Award

After a three-day deliberation meeting in Hamburg attended by 25 students representing 25 European countries the film EO (POL, ITA 2022) by Jerzy Skolimowski was awarded the European University Film Award (EUFA), which is organised by Filmfest Hamburg and the European Film Academy.

EO, a grey donkey with melancholic eyes and a curious spirit, begins his life as a circus performer before escaping on a trek across the Polish and Italian countryside in a journey marked by absurdity and warmth in equal measure. Legendary filmmaker Jerzy Skolimowski directs one of his most free and visually inventive films yet, placing the viewer directly in the heart and mind of the four-legged protagonist.

"Through the melancholic eyes of a donkey, Jerzy Skolimowski depicts a post-human odyssey across the absurdity of human cruelty and its relationship with nature. A masterclass on cinematic language as a means of expression, the film portrays a mélange of euphoric and traumatic experiences with a striking colour palette, daunting sound design and an almost brutalist approach to editing. Traversing a borderless Europe, EO embarks on a transient journey filled with magical realism and allegories. Enchanting the audience, the film allows for an experience of metamorphosis and transcendence,” says the jury consisting of 25 students from the participating universities about their choice.

Twenty-five universities from 25 European countries are involved in the European University Film Award, each sending a delegate to the conference, where the nominated films were discussed and the winner was voted on. The previous winners of the European University Film Awards are: 2021: FLEE (D: Jonas Poher Rasmussen), 2020: SAUDI RUNAWAY (D: Susanna Regina Meures); 2019: PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (D: Céline Sciamma); 2018: HAPPY AS LAZZARO (D: Alice Rohrwacher); 2017: HEARTSTONE (D: Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson); 2016: I, DANIEL BLAKE (D: Ken Loach).

The European University Film Award is organized by FILMFEST HAMBURG and the European Film Academy in close cooperation with the NECS European Network for Cinema and Media Studies and is supported by Hamburg Marketing and Hamburg Foundation for the Advancement of Research and Culture.

In 2019 it became an official category of the European Film Awards.