Swedish film festival to screen on remote island for audience of one

STOCKHOLM — Scandinavia’s biggest film festival is going ahead this year despite the coronavirus pandemic, but will be hosted on an isolated island and admit only one attendee: a healthcare worker, selected from 12,000 applicants.

Swedish nurse and film fan Lisa Enroth was chosen to be the 2021 Gothenburg Film Festival’s castaway who will, in fact, spend a week on the remote island of Pater Noster watching film after film.

“In healthcare I seem to have spent ages listening, testing and consoling. I feel like I’m drained of energy,” Enroth said in full enthusiasm, of course.

The global pandemic has  forced the world’s cinemas to close down. Göteborg Film Festival, the biggest film festival in Scandinavia, is therefore creating The Isolated Cinema on the lighthouse island of Pater Noster. One film enthusiast will be able to enjoy the festival in total isolation on a rock far out at sea, with film as his or her only companion. Is it you? Apply now!

In fact, Pater Noster, on the boundary of a dense archipelago off Sweden’s west coat, is known for its lighthouse.

“The wind, the sea, the possibility of being part of a totally different kind of reality for a week—all this is really attractive,” said Enroth, who will keep a daily video diary that will appear on the festival’s website.

The festival’s CEO Mirja Wester said: “It feels particularly right to be able to give this unique experience to one of the many heroes of the healthcare system who are all working so hard against COVID-19.“

— Reuters