Hotel Alcohol
by Jan Cvitkovič
Hotel Alkohol, 2026, fiction, digital DCP, 1,85:1, 25, c, 105 min
SI, DE, HR
Finished
Bako decides to seek treatment for alcoholism in a psychiatric hospital. There, he meets Medea, a drug addict, and Drago, a naive and good-natured chess-loving psychiatric patient. The domineering head physician at the hospital organises a bizarre “Olympics”. Our protagonists form a team called Hotel Alcohol, and after their defeat, they leave the hospital and set off on a journey towards the sea. This journey ends in an unexpected place, in an unexpected way.
Jan Cvitkovič (1966) is the screenwriter and director of several feature films: Bread and Milk (2001), Gravehopping (2005), Arheo (2011), Šiška Deluxe (2015), The Basics of Killing (2017), and Hotel Alcohol (in distribution in 2026), as well as numerous short and documentary films. His films have been screened at more than 200 internationally recognised festivals and have won over 60 awards. In October 2025, he received the prestigious FICE Award in Italy for his film oeuvre.
Since childhood, my life has somehow intertwined with people with special needs, alcoholics, psychiatric patients, addicts. I want to demystify their world, break taboos and bring it closer to the viewer—also through the prism of humour. I feel that condemning “marginalized people” is a barren distancing from oneself, while moving closer to them can be an act of moving closer to the essence.
| Festival | Award | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 29th Festival of Slovenian Film |
Vesna Award (Jury Award), best leading role (Male)
|
2026 |
Stara Gara is one of Slovenia’s best-established film production companies, with a rich portfolio of projects involving the most prominent directors and key talent in filmmaking from Slovenia and the wider European area. As a delegate producer, Staragara has participated in the creation of nine feature films. It boasts premieres at prestigious film festivals such as Venice, Cannes, San Sebastian, Rotterdam, Locarno, Tallinn, IDFA, Sarajevo, and Tribeca.