Swedish film festival to go ahead… with audience of one

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 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.

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.”