This film festival invites you to watch a movie while you're encased in a tomb

Gothenburg filmfest's 'most claustrophobic cinema' is promoting sci-fi movie 'Aniara' with the creepy stunt

Published On
Jan 10, 2019

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Sweden's Gothenburg Film Festival is hoping to attract moviegoers this year by way of a rather creepy stunt.

The festival, one of the biggest in Scandinavia, is promoting the Nordic premiere of the sci-fi adaption "Aniara," in which humanity is forced to escape from the Earth via spaceship, by allowing a few visitors to sign up for the "world's most claustrophobic" cinema. They will watch the film trapped alone in a sarcophagus and isolated from the outside world.

People can sign up online for a chance to be encased in the tombs, which measure 210 cm long and 60 cm wide. They have air vents in their bases and are equipped with built-in screens and speakers. Each casket is constantly monitored--and they're all equipped with panic buttons, just in case it's all too much. 

The screenings will run between January 27- 31 with each experience taking a little over three hours with a a randomly-selected group of eight people. The campaign is by agency Stendahls.

 "This is going to be a challenging experience that intensifies the sensation of being alone in deep space--something that characterises 'Aniara'. We wanted to explore what happens when you see a movie in these kinds of extreme conditions," says Jonas Holmberg, creative director of the Göteborg Film Festival. "The screenings might even raise a couple of questions about the direction in which humankind is headed."