Frontline nurse wins contest to watch movies in a remote lighthouse by herself

Winning a contest to spend a week living on an isolated island to watch movies in a lighthouse sounds almost like the plot of a film in itself.

But for Lisa Enroth from Skövde, Sweden, it's currently a reality.

The frontline coronavirus nurse beat over 12,000 applicants for the Göteburg Film Festival's Isolated Cinema experience, which sees one person being sent to Sweden's Pater Noster island for a week to watch their pick of the festival's 60 movie premieres.

"The Isolated Cinema on the island of Pater Noster is inaccessibly located at the very edge of the archipelago in one of Sweden’s most barren, windswept locations," reads the event description. "One solitary film enthusiast [will] experience total isolation from the outside world. No phone, no family, no friends. Just the sea and the festival’s film programme with 60 film premieres. For seven days."

Not matter how much of a film fan you are, it sounds like a challenging experience — and the application process reflected that. Organsizers spent a long time interviewing and testing applicants in order to find someone who was not only deserving, but also capable of withstanding a week of isolation.

“Choosing one single person out of 12,000 was not an easy task, but Lisa made a strong impression on us in her letter," said Göteborg Film Festival CEO Mirja Wester. "The interviews and tests she subsequently undertook strengthened our impression of her as the right candidate. And in these troubled times 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."

The experience is running Jan. 30 to Feb. 6, which means Enroth is currently on her second day on Pater Noster — and from the looks of her latest video diary entry, she's having a splendid time.

You can follow Enroth's daily video diary on Göteberg Film Festival's YouTube channel (tomorrow she's planning to give a mini-tour inside the lighthouse, which could be worth checking out).

“My God, this is going to be so much fun!" Enroth said prior to departing for the island. "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.”