The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

Before Mats Steen passed away from a rare muscular disease, he left his blog password to his parents, which would ultimately open the door to an entire community and fantastic world that they could not have possibly imagined. In his time spent playing World of Warcraft, Mats became known by his avatar “Ibelin,” a name that would resonate with other gamers around Europe, as he forged bonds that extended far beyond the confines of the fictional world. In The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, director Benjamin Ree skillfully deploys animators and professional narrators to recreate the majestic world of Azeroth, as experienced through the eyes of Mats and other gamers. Benjamin’s documentary serves as not only a boundary breaking exercise in the possibilities of film form, but also as a formidably compassionate testimony of the remarkable life that Mats had lived and the lives of others that he profoundly impacted.
—Jordan Klein