by Benjamin Ree
EnglishEnglish
German
The Norwegian Mats Steen suffered from a muscle disease and passed away at the age of 25 years. For a long time, his parents believed that their son had led a lonely life – until they share the news of his death on his blog and a whole new world opens up to them: Mats lived his life online as a World of Warcraft player called Ibelin Redmoore. Through stories from former fellow players and and re-enacted and animated chat logs, the documentary tells the moving story of a young man who escaped into a life free from illness and thus experienced friendship and love. 'Ibelin has opened up a whole new universe for me, in which gaming is not simply an escape, but a channel for friendship, love and community.
Benjamin Ree is a Norwegian film director. His debut, MAGNUS, was nominated in two categories at the Zurich Film Festival in 2016. His latest documentary THE PAINTER AND THE THIEF received more than 30 awards and was shortlisted for the Oscars. THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF IBELIN celebrated its premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where it received two awards. THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF IBELIN (2024) / THE PAINTER AND THE THIEF (2020) / MAGNUS (2016)
