A Extraordinária Vida de Ibelin

This movie should be mandatory for everyone to watch. Period. Especially parents who have children who spend a lot of time gaming. I thought I knew the story that I first read in a newspaper a number of years ago. But no, you think you know the story - until you see the movie. What a wonderful person Mats Steen was! Too bad he was so strict with himself when he was so generous with others.

This is the first time I've experienced such a quiet movie theater. Everybody was quiet and remained seated when the credits rolled across the screen at the end. No one even put on their jacket. Now I know what to do if, due to age (or other things), feel isolated from the the real world. Then I think I'm going to be a gamer in The World of Warcraft.

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.

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.

This documentary is absolutely one of the most heart-wrenching documentaries that I've ever seen that really shines true to my personal experiences and connections that I've made and playing World of Warcraft. Good friend of mine, Sightblinder, passed away after knowing him for nearly 10 years playing World of Warcraft, but his impact lives true within me.

True connection takes place only with genuine intention and complete compassion and empathy for those who you are connecting with... and in the world is distracting as what we have today, we don't find many like Ibelin.

I think we all hope one day to have the impact that Ibelin did, and forever may he RIP.

RIP Ibelin, AKA Mats.

RIP Sightblinder aka Dan Borges.

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.