The Last Observers
Film screening with Patagonia
Enjoy the fascinating story of a Swedish couple’s 36-year commitment to watching the skies.
We’ve joined forces with Patagonia Manchester to host a screening of The Last Observers, a film that tells the story of Karin and Lennart, who watched and recorded the weather every third hour, day and night, seven days a week, every day of the year, from their station by the lighthouse in Falsterbo, Sweden.
This devoted pair, united too by their love for birds, didn’t miss a single observation in 36 years, even as automated stations have replaced the observers one by one.
We’ll be joined by the filmmaker, Karin and Lennart’s daughter Maja K Mikkelsen, for the screening, which will be followed by a Q&A session.
The Last Observers
Every third hour. Day and night, seven days a week, every day of the year. Karin and Lennart, a couple deeply in love for over 40 years, have dedicated their lives to a unique cause.
When they first met, there were over 200 manual weather stations in Sweden and thousands worldwide, run by observers who diligently watched and registered the conditions every third hour of each day.
In the last decades, automated stations have replaced the observers one by one, but Karin and Lennart remained steadfast. Since 1987, they did not miss one of their now over 100,000 observations—through the births of their four children, snowstorms or illness. All this time they’ve also remained committed to what originally led them to the station by the lighthouse in Falsterbo, Sweden—their mutual love for birds.
In a world constantly pulled toward efficiency that corrupts experience, Karin and Lennart’s story shines as a beacon of rarity and necessity. Told through the eyes of their daughter Maja, we’re invited into an extraordinary and heartwarming love story, where lasting happiness is found in birds, everyday rhythms and a profound connection with nature.
And we’re reminded that one can land “a lousy salary, and a fantastic life.”
