La vita straordinaria di Ibelin

I was lucky enough to be at a screening where Mats' father presented the film, and afterwards he and the audience reflected around it. A mother in the audience said that the film gave her more understanding about her son's relationship with gaming, and they reflected on the fact that adults often judge the gaming culture before they have seen the whole picture. I think that was an interesting reflection.

This film was so beautiful and heartwarming. The movie addresses many issues surrounding gaming, and tackles a number of prejudices many have against gaming and shines a new light on it. It opened my eyes to the freedoms it gives to many, and the fact that so many strong and lasting communities and friendships gets made and exist on this platforms. It also focuses on making the most of the life you have, and the power that lies in caring, being kind, showing respect and listening to others. Would recommend it heartily!

Mats Steen was a poor, unfortunate lad who was born with a disease that caused his muscles to slowly whither away. This led to a life lived mostly bound to a wheelchair until he faded away and died. A horrible and empty way to live and die.

Or was it?

As it turned out the young man, who was an avid participant in a game called World of Warcraft, had built an alternate, online life with friendships and even some romantic relationships. Through his alter-ego "Ibelin" Mats lived the life he always wanted and seemed to find ways to help others on his way. It wasn't until after his death that the depth and extent of how many people his digital life had positively affected came to light.

I have a kind of parallel experience from my own youth in that during the 80's I was very into role playing games. We were the geeks and the other outsiders who kind of banded together over a game that offered a means of escape from the everyday world. We were misunderstood and vilified as losers or even satanists. So, in watching this film, I recognized the world and the negative mindset endured by those who love online games. The setting had changed but the negativity towards the game was the same. I understood.

It was very life affirming to see how Mats's character "Ibelin" released him from his physical constraints and gave him the opportunity to live a life lived well. Maybe this shows a way forward for people with such extensive physical difficulties, a way to put them entirely into a virtual reality so they can live a happy life through virtual avatars? Or maybe that's just wishful sci-fi thinking. Either way, I wept at several points in the film, sometimes through sadness, sometimes through joy. I'm not the kind of guy who cries easily but this film pushes enough of the necessary emotional buttons to make even a stone gargoyle cry.

I find I'm still not convinced about the wholesomeness of online gaming, a lot of very unpleasant things have happened in some quite high profile cases. But, if someone were to ask me if online games are a good thing, now I've seen this film, I'd have to say yes, the majority of the time.

God bless Mats and Ibelin, sleep well.

Ibelin is a deeply moving documentary that beautifully captures the unexpected ways people connect in the digital world. It tells the story of Mats Steen, a young Norwegian gamer who passed away at 25 from a degenerative muscular disease. His parents, who believed Mats lived a lonely and isolated life, were overwhelmed when they started receiving heartfelt messages from his online friends around the globe. Through these messages, the film reveals how gaming gave Mats a sense of belonging and deep friendships that defied the physical limitations of his condition.

Watching Ibelin was an emotional experience; almost everyone in the theater, including us, was in tears. The film is both heartwarming and heartbreaking, as it shows how Mats' life, though marked by illness, was filled with meaningful connections. It challenges the idea that a fulfilling life must look a certain way and reminds us that friendship and love can flourish in the most unexpected places. This story has left a lasting impression on us and is hands down our favourite at MIFF this year.

I went to the cinema yesterday without knowing too much about the story, except it being very emotionally moving, and left it a feeling of gratefuleness.

This movie displays the story of a young man who had to live his life with a severe muscular disease, that eventually took him. Due to his incapability of taking part in life in the real world, he chose to spent it mostly digitally in World of Warcraft. In this virtual world he was not limited by his disease and could do things, that he was not able to do otherwise.

This documentary displays is life in WoW and how he affected others. It is a very moving story and I could imagine it to be eye opening, especially for elder people, who might not have a perception of how much a virtual world can impact people.

I consider myself a gamer as well, not particularly a roleplayer, but a gamer and thereby I know, how beautiful games can be and how they can yield relationships. With that perspective in mind, I also was moved by the story. Rest in Peace Ibelin.

Well, Rarely do i find a documentary that shreds me to the core.

It's great in it's simplicity, but this true story hits you to the core on an international level. A must see for every parent and educator who is afraid of the online gaming community.

Now, I rarely get emotional these days, it has been a few years since I have tears run down my face during such a long time. The documentary hits every chord it touches, for me at least. True, when you look at the story objectively, and take all the emotional items out of it, it is a story so cliché that it borders on the sickening delights of a cheap RomCom. It follows exactly the same story line one could imagine in a movie of that kind. Yet the true story and the testimonies of his family and the online community give it a message that hits home hard.

Personally I was touched as my life has many similarities to our hero, but for quite different reasons and for sure I am not a hero, Mats is! In every single definition of the word.

May there be many Ibelin's in this world, and the online worlds, and I hope 'World of Warcraft' erects a statue in Azeroth (or names the 30 minute route he ran every day) to the exceptional person that was Mats "Ibelin" Steen, and may they produce a full scale movie about his and his characters life with all profits going to the research of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.