In Conversation with Benjamin Ree | Ibelin

As we approach the end of the year and look with anticipation towards the awards season, we are delighted to invite you to a new series of In Conversation events with filmmakers whose documentaries have surprised, provoked, engaged and inspired us throughout 2024 so far. 

Our first November guest is Benjamin Ree, the director of The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (originally titled Ibelin), an unconventional documentary telling the story of a Norwegian gamer — and of how we live life on the internet.

By RSVPing to this event, you will receive the Zoom details to join us on the day.

Attendees will receive a private link to watch the film after the In Conversation event. 


IBELIN

103 minutes | Norway, USA

Mats Steen, a Norwegian gamer, died of a degenerative muscular disease at the age of 25. His parents mourned what they thought had been a lonely and isolated life, when they started receiving messages from online friends around the world. This moving documentary has used animation and Matt's own posts to reveal the fulfilling gaming life he led in World of Warcraft through his online persona 'Ibelin' – right down to his first kiss.

Benjamin Ree is a three times Sundance winning film director. Before directing the Netflix Original Documentary Ibelin (2024), his film The Painter and the Thief (2020) was sold to 80 countries and won more than 30 awards. The film was named one of 2020’s best films, by BBC, Boston Globe, Washington Post and the New York Times, and it has been named an important film in film history by several media outlets: in 2022 it was on MUBI’s best movies in film history list ranked in the top 100, New York Magazine 101 best movie endings of all time and The International Documentary Association’s list of the best documentaries of the decade.

Director's Statement

There were several things that made me connect with this story: The story of grief, the  generation gap, the stigma of gaming, and Mats’ coming of age story inside the game. I had  played many of the same games as him growing up and I felt Mats’ story said something about  our generation. I had a deep curiosity to try and explore the questions Mats’ parents had been asking  themselves, and I knew I wouldn’t find simple answers, but I could try to explore them  cinematically. So in my meeting with his family I asked if they could be interested in me making a film about  this — a documentary where we could reconstruct Mats’ life in World of Warcraft and invite  everyone in. They said yes immediately. All of Mats’ archive was public, and Mats had told his parents before he died that he really  wanted to be remembered. That’s why he wrote a blog and participated in a short documentary/ informational video about the importance of specialised equipment for people with disabilities. 

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Our In Conversation series features inspiring filmmakers delving into the journey of their career and the process of crafting a film - from developing an idea, working with participants, funding, editing and distribution. These free, interactive virtual events are an incredible opportunity to speak to award-winning filmmakers and learn key tools and insights for working in the industry. 

Coming up next:

November 21st:  Shiori Ito — BLACK BOX DIARIES
November 28th: Brett Story and Stephen Maing — UNION
December 4th: NO OTHER LAND

When

06 November 2024, 03.00PM - 04.00PM

Where

Zoom


Will you come?