Swedish film festival invites one fan to spend week watching movies alone on lighthouse island

Applicants should be ‘emotionally and psychoogically suited to spend a week in this kind of isolation’

(© Erik Nissen Johansen)

Sweden’s Göteborg Film Festival has invited one movie fan to spend a week alone on an isolated island watching the festival’s 2021 line-up.

The chosen film enthusiast will spend seven days in total isolation on the island of Hamneskär, sleeping in Pater Noster, a former lighthouse that has been converted into luxury accommodation and a cinema.

The guest will not be allowed to bring a computer, phone or even a book to the island. “You can watch the waves and you can watch the films,” said the festival’s artistic director Jonas Holmberg.

Speaking about what type of applicant will be successful, Holmberg said: “They have to be a film enthusiast; they have to agree to record a daily video blog about the experiment; and they have to be emotionally and psychologically suited to spend a week in this kind of isolation.”

Those interested are able to apply for the one-of-a-kind experience via the festival’s website. The winner will be announced on 19 January, in order to begin their one-week stay from 30 January.

The festival is also offering one-person film screenings at impressive Gothenburg venues, including the Scandinavium stadium and the festival’s usual premiere venue The Draken Cinema – where this year’s 60 movie premieres will be attended by just one viewer each.

Tickets for the isolated film screenings at Scandinavium and The Draken will be raffled among applicants who can register their interest here.