Would you be happy to ditch your phone and the internet for a whole week? What if you were destined to spend that week completely isolated, marooned on a tiny windswept rock, barely protruding above the icy waves off the western coast of Sweden?
To more than 12,000 film buffs from 45 different countries, this prospect sounded like an absolutely perfect way to enjoy the first week of February. The annual Göteborg Film Festival, the largest film festival in Scandinavia, had chosen an unconventional theme for its 2021 event, that of social isolation. Their 60 films would premier at the top of the 154 year-old Pater Noster lighthouse, to an audience of only one. This nautical landmark and its keeper’s cottage had been recently renovated by Swedish design company Stylt. The accommodations, though remote, would be extremely comfortable, and the kitchen’s refrigerator and cabinets were fully provisioned with delicious foodstuffs to support its solo inhabitant.
Image Credit: Lisa’s Video Diary – The Isolated Cinema on YouTube
After a series of interviews and tests involving thousands of hopefuls, the festival committee favored Swedish emergency nurse, Lisa Enroth, for this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Having spent the last year working on the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic, Lisa was thrilled with the prospect of immersing herself in film and the natural world: “Through my work in healthcare I seem to have spent ages listening, testing and consoling. I feel like I’m drained of energy. The wind, the sea, the possibility of being part of a totally different kind of reality for a week – all this is really attractive.”
Once on the island, Lisa enjoyed a morning routine of waking up to watch the sunrise, eating breakfast, exercising and eating a second breakfast. The afternoons and evenings were spent exploring the island, watching the sunset and, of course, watching movies.
Lisa Enroth’s daily video diary of her 7 days of film-infused isolation, can be found on the Göteborg Film Festival website at: https://goteborgfilmfestival.se/en/the-isolated-cinema/