INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL KINO OTOK ISOLA CINEMA 2026

Report from Laurent Tesseyre

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Dear friends

I had the pleasure and advantage of being invited by SKOM, the Slovenian association of technicians that is a member of Artscenico, to the International Kino Otok Film Festival from June 10 to 14, 2026, which was held in Izola, Slovenia, for its twenty-second year!

A beautiful continuity for this festival organized with mastery by a team of Tanja Hladnik, Varja Mačnik and a nice crew of volunteers in this pretty port of the coast of Istria. An opportunity to share with Slovenian filmmakers and viewers about the particularities of film professions...

On June 10th, it was just my birthday, and I’ll spare you the score. To stay in line with ecological realities and my convictions, I had decided to make the trip by train (14 hours!) a beautiful journey through France, Switzerland and Italy to arrive in Triest at 22h by a bouquet of flowers to reach Izola by car (30km! easy...).

It was for the screening of Les Misérables, the film directed by Claude Lelouch in which I had participated in 1994 that I was invited, so a memorial sequence! I relived the film with interest that I had a little forgotten, but which made precisely reappear in my memory details of this river shooting that lasted nearly six months, a big project.
Following this screening, I was pleased to answer the many questions from an audience of professionals and film buffs.

I also took part in a masterclass led by Mateja Fajt on the subject of working conditions. SKOM participating in the development of a Collective Bargaining Agreement in Slovenia, the French example and the value of expertise from Artscenico were widely discussed, as well as the various modes of operation of our professions across Europe.

And the movies? Of course, many screenings, both indoors and outdoors, of classics from Slovenian cinema, but also new films such as the very humorous Serbian and Croatian “Yugo goes to America” by ALEKSA BORKOVIĆ, FILIP GRUJIĆ, Srbija, Hrvaska, who saw the audience enthusiastic about the comic evocation, full of nostalgia and derision of the industrial adventure in the USA of little Yugo, “the worst car” or "Divorce Car...". A hilarious film to discover, even without being Serbian...

The opportunity also to see again Daisies by Véra Chytilová (CZ 1966) in the still-uncatchy fantasy of the 1960s. But also the echo of this period on short films, old and new, including The Gratined Brains of Pupilija by Karpo Acimovic-Godina, in the presence of the directors with the always highly anticipated ones, a questions/answers sequence.

A very eclectic selection of long and short films from all over Europe, and beyond, which all say how much cinema remains a living material, hence the mainstream films that mobilize our screens, and our imaginations, by hiding many talents.

Very good times in good company, punctuated by concerts, parties and swimming! A bit like holidays, but better! A big thank you to the whole team and SKOM for this moment full of surprises and emotions on a territory full of stories to discover.

Laurent TESSEYRE, MAD, France (Treasurer, ARTSCENICO)

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