Pokot / Spoor – anti-hunting film based on Olga Tokarczuk’s novel

About the film

Pokot (Spoor) is a Polish feature film directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Agnieszka Holland and based on the novel Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Nobel Prize-winning author Olga Tokarczuk. Set in a remote mountain village, the story follows Janina Duszejko, a woman who challenges the local hunting culture and the violence inflicted on wild animals. The film combines crime drama, mystery and dark humour, but at its core it is a powerful critique of hunting, trophy killing and the belief that humans have the right to dominate and kill other beings for sport.

Pokot remains one of the most important anti-hunting films in contemporary Polish cinema. It asks uncomfortable questions about animal suffering, social acceptance of violence, and the legal privileges given to hunters. Its message is especially relevant today, as both Olga Tokarczuk, the author of the novel, and Agnieszka Holland, the film’s director, support the civic initiative Uwaga Polowanie, which aims to change Polish hunting law — including a ban on commercial hunting and trophy hunting.