Sure to be one of 2024’s most discussed documentaries, the singular Ibelin blends video games and real life to tell a beautiful and deeply emotional hidden story.
When Mats Steen was diagnosed with a rare form of muscular dystrophy and progressively lost his mobility, he dove into the world of cooperative computer games. Toward the end of his life, his parents worried about the isolation and loneliness of the disease. After his death at the age of 25, however, an outpouring of support and love from the gaming community revealed that Steen had led a rich and eventful online life. Through a blend of interviews and reconstructed animated gameplay, Benjamin Ree fashions a vivid portrait of Ibelin, Steen’s avatar in World of Warcraft. The film creatively illustrates how Steen was able to transcend the limits of his physical world and touch people around the globe. The winner of directing and audience awards at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Ibelin is one of the year’s most unforgettable and moving documentaries. In Norwegian and English with English subtitles. (101 mins., DCP)
