The global pandemic has forced the world’s movie theaters 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. There will also be exclusive one-person film screenings at two iconic venues in Göteborg (Gothenburg), Sweden.
Our world looks very different today, and so too does Göteborg Film Festival. The 2021 festival will
be digital, with audience having access to all the films, premieres and talks via a digital platform.
Some participants will also get a real-life experience with the opportunity to watch the films in
total seclusion: The Isolated Cinema.
Göteborg Film Festival is looking for someone to take on the challenge of spending one week
in social isolation on the remote lighthouse island of Pater Noster, a secluded spot out at sea, far
away from family, friends and cell phone. The only company will be the noise of the sea – and
the festival films. Everyone is welcome to apply for the spot on Pater Noster via the festival
website. The festival will also be offering isolated film screenings for one person at a time at the
Scandinavium arena and the Draken cinema.
– The 2021 festival focus, “Social Distances,” examines the new world that has emerged in the wake
of the pandemic, and the role of film in this new world. The creation of isolated film experiences for
single-person audiences at iconic sites is a way of ensuring entirely safe festival screenings, but it is
also an attempt to process how the pandemic has changed people’s relationships with film. On
Pater Noster it’s all about the total isolation experienced by so many people all over the world this
past year. The sensation of being utterly alone in the Scandinavium arena or Draken cinema ties in
with the altered relationship people now have to all those places that normally buzz with activity
but are now deserted, says Jonas Holmberg, Artistic Director at Göteborg Film Festival.
Pater Noster is a lonely lighthouse in the North Sea perched at the very edge of the archipelago in
one of Sweden’s most barren, windswept locations. That’s where a solitary film enthusiast will be
secluded for an entire week, with only the film festival program for company. Every day he or she
will provide a report about the films and the experience of being alone on an isolated rock in a vast
sea.
Scandinavium is one of Sweden’s most well-attended venues, home to the World Ice Hockey
Championships and live concerts with artists such as the Rolling Stones and Whitney Houston.
During the festival the isolated visitor will sit completely alone in a cinema seat at the center of the
rink while the massive stands gape empty.
The Draken Cinema is the very heart of Göteborg Film Festival and its chosen premiere venue.
Every year enthusiastic audiences gather there to enjoy the latest films. This year, the gala
premieres will each be attended by just one viewer. Sitting alone in the theater, the visitor will get a
personal introduction from the filmmakers before the curtains rise and the film begins.
Tickets for the festival’s isolated film screenings at Scandinavium and Draken will be raffled among
visitors who register via the festival website. Registration opened on January 4. For the single spot
on Pater Noster, interviews with selected applicants will take place on an ongoing basis. The chosen
one will be announced on January 19 and will be isolated for one week from January 30.
