Wikipedia

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (originally titled Ibelin) is a 2024 Norwegian documentary by Benjamin Ree.[2]

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
Netflix promotional poster
Directed byBenjamin Ree
Produced byIngvil Giske[1]
CinematographyRasmus Tukia[1]
Tore Vollan[1]
Edited byRobert Stengård[1]
Music byUno Helmersson[1]
Distributed byNetflix
Release date
  • January 19, 2024 (2024-01-19) (Sundance)
Running time
104 minutes[1]
CountryNorway
Languages
  • English
  • Norwegian

Synopsis

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Mats Steen, a Norwegian man born with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, became increasingly unable to participate in everyday activities. As a result, he spent most of his time playing video games, particularly World of Warcraft. His parents worried it would cause him to miss out on life, unaware of what he was doing in the game.

Towards the end of his life, he started a blog about living with his disease. When he died at the age of 25, he left behind the password for his family. They used the blog to announce his death, which led to dozens of people replying. The film then tells the story of his life in the World of Warcraft guild Starlight — where he played the character Ibelin Redmoore — through animations based on the game interspersed with retrospectives from his guild members, family, and excerpts from his blog.

As Ibelin, Mats kept his real life identity and his medical condition a secret, worried that other guild members would treat him differently if they knew. To help hide his identity, he refused to communicate in any other form than text, but he still developed close relationships with other guild members. He was perceived as a reliable friend they could share their problems with.

Mats’ condition worsened over time, and it became harder for him to play the game. He appeared more agitated, causing drama regarding his relationships in the guild, eventually leading to him lashing out at one of the guild members. As Mats’ condition kept deteriorating, he developed severe breathing difficulties and had to be hospitalised. A friend from the guild became concerned regarding Mats’ absence, and confronted him about it. Mats decided to tell that friend about his condition, and expressed his fear of other people finding out. His friend encouraged Mats to tell the other guild members, and Mats decided to apologise to the guild about his previous behaviour. He later shared his blog with them.

Eventually, Mats died due to his muscular dystrophy. Five guild members from abroad attended his funeral in Oslo. The rest gathered in the game, which became a yearly tradition. The film ends with a shot of his tombstone, which reads Mats "Ibelin" Steen.

Release

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Ibelin premiered on 19 January 2024 in the World Documentary Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival where it won 2 awards, the Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary and The Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary. Shortly after, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film.[3] The film continued to screen at festivals such as the Chicago Critics Film Festival in May and the New Zealand International Film Festival in August, with the title expanded to The Remarkable Life of Ibelin.[4][5] It has been selected for the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024, under the World Cinema section.[6]

Reception

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Critical response

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 50 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.9/10.[7] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 78 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[8] Variety praised the film, stating "It’s a world unto itself, and a glowing example of how moviemaking — like a person’s digital footprint — can be a form of immortality that soothes even the most devastating loss."[9] Other reviews were also extremely positive.[2][10][11][12] Cineeuropa found that Ree "ends up with a film that’s not about death; rather, it’s about friendship, love and life."[13]

Accolades

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Award Date Category Recipient Result Ref.
Sundance Film Festival 28 January 2024 World Cinema Documentary – Grand Jury Prize The Remarkable Life of Ibelin Nominated [14]
World Cinema Documentary – Audience Award Won
World Cinema Documentary – Directing Benjamin Ree Won
Amanda Awards 23 August 2024 Best Film Benjamin Ree & Ingvil Giske Won [15]
Best Documentary Film Nominated
Best Director Benjamin Ree Nominated
Best Editing Robert Stengård Won
Best Visual Effects Rasmus Tukia, Ada Wikdahl, Chris Kongshaug, Derek Bancroft, Sindre Hammersbøen & Arash Ebrahimi Nominated
Zurich Film Festival 13 October 2024 Best International Documentary Film The Remarkable Life of Ibelin Nominated [16]
Critics' Choice Documentary Awards 10 November 2024 Best Documentary Feature Nominated [17]
Best Biographical Documentary Nominated
Best Director Benjamin Ree Nominated
Best Score Uno Helmersson Nominated
Best Editing Robert Stengård Nominated
European Film Awards 7 December 2024 European Young Audience Award The Remarkable Life of Ibelin Pending [18]
Cinema Eye Honors 9 January 2025 Audience Choice Prize Pending [19]
Outstanding Visual Design Rasmus Tukia and Ada Wikdahl Pending
Outstanding Original Score Uno Helmersson Pending

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Ibelin". Sundance Film Festival. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  2. ^ a b Ebiri, Bilge (19 January 2024). "The Moving Ibelin Captures a Life Only Seemingly Half-Lived". Vulture. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  3. ^ Grobar, Matt (19 January 2024). "Netflix Snaps Up Sundance Doc 'Ibelin' From 'The Painter And The Thief' Helmer Benjamin Ree". Deadline. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  4. ^ Oleszkiewicz, Anthony (21 May 2024). "The Remarkable Life of Ibelin [Chicago Critics Festival 2024]". Starburst. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  5. ^ "Whānau Mārama: The Remarkable Life of Ibelin". New Zealand International Film Festival. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  6. ^ Deb, Deepshikha (30 September 2024). "MAMI Mumbai Film Festival Unveils 2024 Official Lineup". High On Films. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  7. ^ "The Remarkable Life of Ibelin". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 3 November 2024.  
  8. ^ "The Remarkable Life of Ibelin". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  9. ^ Adlakha, Siddhant (20 January 2024). "'Ibelin' Review: A Shattering Documentary About a Gamer's Secret Life". Variety. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  10. ^ Fienberg, Daniel (20 January 2024). "'Ibelin' Review: An Inspirational but Facile Documentary About Life, Death and Gaming". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  11. ^ "'Ibelin' highlights young gamer's life and his profound impact on the digital community". KPCW | Listen Like a Local. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  12. ^ Driessen, Kees (20 January 2024). "Sundance World Cinema Documentary Competition review: Ibelin by Benjamin Ree". Business Doc Europe. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  13. ^ "Benjamin Ree • Director of Ibelin". Cineuropa - the best of european cinema. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  14. ^ The Complete List of 2024 Sundance Film Festival Award Winners|Sundance Film Festival
  15. ^ Huser, Aleksander (27 August 2024). "Sex, docs and undead biggest winners at the Norwegian Amanda Awards". Nordisk Film & TV Fond. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  16. ^ Del Don, Giorgia (15 October 2024). "On Becoming a Guinea Fowl y Black Box Diaries son las grandes triunfadoras del Festival de Zúrich". Cineuropa (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  17. ^ Lewis, Hilary (14 October 2024). "'Sugarcane' Leads Critics Choice Documentary Awards Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  18. ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (5 November 2024). "European Film Awards: 'Emilia Pérez', 'The Room Next Door' Lead Nominations". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  19. ^ Hipes, Patrick (24 October 2024). "Cinema Eye Honors: 'Girls State', 'Ren Faire' Lead Broadcast Nominees; Audience Choice Award Longlist Revealed". Deadline. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
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