The Story Behind Netflix’s Moving Documentary The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

As I delve into the heartwarming tale of Ree, I find myself utterly captivated by his journey and the profound impact he has made on both the gaming community and the parents who were once oblivious to their children’s digital lives. His story is a testament to the power of collaboration, creativity, and the human spirit.

On November 18, 2014, I lost my beloved son Mats Steen, who succumbed to Duchenne muscular dystrophy. He was just 25 years old and had been battling this cruel disease since he was a toddler. By the age of ten, he needed a wheelchair, and his final years were spent barely able to move his fingers. Although my wife Trude and I knew that our days together were limited, nothing could have prepared us for this heartbreaking reality. “There’s no way to truly prepare yourself for losing a child,” I reflect as we sit side by side during our recent Zoom interview.

Over the previous decade, Mats had spent about 20,000 hours playing World of Warcraft, an online role-playing fantasy game. He’d also started a blog, sharing musings about his condition and ambitions while confined inside his parents’ Oslo home. As friends who lived nearby provided the family with food, flowers, and condolences, Robert and Trude felt they needed to relay the devastating news to their son’s virtual friends. So they opened his blog and posted a final update: “Our beloved son, brother and best friend left us this night,” it began. Maybe a few people would read it, they thought.

They couldn’t have predicted the response. The next day, their inbox was flooded with emails from people around the world expressing grief and recounting the meaningful interactions they’d had with Mats as his alter-ego Ibelin Redmoore. Robert and Trude were stunned. They knew that Ibelin was their son’s blonde and muscular avatar in an exclusive WoW guild called Starlight, but never considered that Mats had cultivated a deep online community through the character. The emails, some of them paragraphs long, proved their son had lived anything but an isolated and unfulfilled life in his basement bedroom.

“It was sort of unreal,” Trude says.

At first, she along with Robert believed the letters were fake. However, as they delved into the heartfelt tributes, they realized these were sincere individuals who knew Mats intimately – possibly even more than they did. Mats had built solid connections, offered guidance, and engaged in numerous romantic relationships, all without our knowledge. This discovery brought comfort during a sorrowful period and allowed us to understand that Mats “was significant in other people’s lives,” as Robert puts it.

The tale of his life is featured prominently in “The Extraordinary Life of Ibelin“, a groundbreaking and emotionally charged documentary by Benjamin Ree. This film delves into Mats’ hidden online social world and the powerful influence he exerted on other gamers. Set to release on October 25th on Netflix, it blends old home videos with captivating World of Warcraft animation to reenact and dramatize Mats’ conversations using authentic transcripts and game logs from his online activities. Beyond being a creatively narrated depiction of unusual friendships, “Ibelin” investigates the societal prejudice against gaming and the difficulties parents often face in comprehending their children’s daily virtual interactions, as Ree points out: “Given that we are increasingly living digital lives,” he says.

Uncovering Mats’ story and earning his family’s trust

The Story Behind Netflix’s Moving Documentary The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

Initially, the film director from Norway came across an extensive article about Mats, which had been initially published by the Norwegian Broadcasting Company four years following the gamer’s demise. He stumbled upon it on Facebook due to a post from his filmmaking instructor, who happened to be Mats’ uncle. “I shed many tears,” Ree admits. “I thought it was one of the most compelling feature articles I had ever read.” It wasn’t until his teacher mentioned that Robert had filmed much of Mats’ early life and preserved their text messages that he contemplated transforming the story into a movie. “That was the moment when I saw the potential for creating a documentary,” Ree says. “That was also when I reached out to Robert.

As a film enthusiast, I’ve been approached by many filmmakers eager to chronicle Mats’ life, but none managed to propose a fresh perspective or ease the emotional burden of reopening old wounds, Robert confides. However, Ree offered something unique: he would portray his son’s journey through the lens of his virtual character, Ibelin. Initially, we needed some time to ponder his idea, but it wasn’t until my brother endorsed the director that we were truly convinced. It felt like destiny when, during the digital conversion of my old VHS tapes, Ree discovered we had once sat together as babies at a neighborhood gathering alongside Mats.

Ree explained they were eager to understand their son more deeply, given they were still grappling with grief and reconsidering who their son truly was. Her suggestion was to make this world open to all. Being new to World of Warcraft, she aimed to introduce it in a manner that even her 94-year-old grandmother could appreciate.

Recounting a life through home video and gaming transcripts

The Story Behind Netflix’s Moving Documentary The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

The first half of the documentary recounts Mats’ life through Robert’s extensive home videos and Ree’s sit-down interviews. The footage captures Mats’ early struggles to walk as a toddler, the first hint that his body wasn’t functioning properly. Over time, as Mats began using a wheelchair and became less capable of attending social functions, the family, including his sister Mia, made every effort to keep him engaged. “We had to make every day with Mats a nice day,” Trude reflects in the film. Like other parents, they struggled as he constantly reverted to video games. “To become a proper Norwegian, you have to be able to climb trees,” Robert says. “But sitting in front of a computer, gaming, that is just a waste of time. That was the conclusion of a total generation of parents.”

To depict Mats’ digital existence, Ree started organizing chat logs. Fortunately, the Starlight gaming community had preserved its game records for the past eight years, totaling approximately 42,000 PDF pages containing every player’s discussions, emotions, and their associated dates and times. Although the forum eventually broke down, Ree was still able to analyze around 4,000 pages to construct a narrative. The task proved “very challenging,” he admits, particularly since it required considering other guild members’ perspectives. However, Ree had a clear framework to follow. “The film was a tale of personal growth, and once you understand that narrative, it becomes easier to select the relevant parts,” he explains.

Indeed, throughout the film, Ree chronicles Mats’ blossoming love interests in the game, specifically with a young woman named Lisette, whose avatar Rumour initiated a flirtatious relationship with Ibelin. He also highlights the low points too, like when Mats struggled to share his vulnerabilities and disclose his physical condition with the community and began lashing out at their probing as a defense mechanism. Using a couple blog posts and the game logs, Ree knew he could find a way to thread Ibelin’s actions through Mats’ own bumpy maturation. “He made a lot of the same mistakes that most people do in their teenage years,” Ree says.

Painstakingly reanimating a digital world

The Story Behind Netflix’s Moving Documentary The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

Despite this, Ree had to recreate these occurrences within the realm of the video game. After exploring his surroundings, he stumbled upon a small animation studio based in Stockholm, run by Rasmus Tukia. Besides his full-time job and living with his parents, Tukia spent his spare time creating Warcraft universes online. Upon accepting the project, Tukia along with two other YouTube animators collaborated with Ree (while traveling between Sweden and his home in Australia) to construct visually stunning, 360-degree narratives of the game using digital models, game logs, and input from the guild for precise details. “Rasmus had a deep understanding of gaming aesthetics,” Ree notes, “and I was familiar with film aesthetics. The two realms would intersect beautifully.

Ree was taking a gamble. Over the two-plus years it took to create the movie’s animated section, he never had permission from the WoW parent company Blizzard to use its IP. In an act of faith, he convened a group of the company’s executives in California for a screening, hoping that the endeavor would inspire them to give their blessing. “My hands were shaking and I had to take some extra doses of asthma medicine the day we showed the film because I almost couldn’t breathe,” Ree says. He didn’t have to worry. By the end, “they were all crying,” he recalls. “The main boss turned around and said, ‘This film is fantastic.’”

Despite Starlight members approving most of the director’s depiction, they pointed out one significant concern before Ree finalized the edit. They messaged the director and mentioned that while everything else looked accurate, there was a notable discrepancy. “They seemed to be suggesting it was a major blunder,” Ree explained, feeling tense because a potential error could mean another year of work. Ibelin, they suggested, preferred female characters dressed in more leather attire. Could he enhance that aspect? Ree responded with a smile, assuring them, “Absolutely, we’ll make the necessary adjustments.

Starting a dialogue around young people’s rich online lives

The Story Behind Netflix’s Moving Documentary The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

As a passionate filmgoer, delving into Ibelin’s virtual journey through Azeroth enriches the closing scenes of the documentary, which poignantly captures Mats’ real-life funeral. A handful of guild members paid their respects, delivering heartfelt eulogies that underscored the depth of the bond they shared, despite never meeting in person. Their tributes served as a stark reminder of how little Robert and Trude truly knew about their son’s online existence. “We have come to realize we had a major blind spot,” Robert admitted. “In our efforts to be present in our children’s lives, we neglected one crucial aspect—the digital realm where they spent their time. We likely invested no more than a few fleeting moments there, and we criticized their online activities without understanding.

Ever since the documentary Ibelin was first screened at the Sundance Film Festival in January, winning both the international audience and director’s awards, Robert has watched it a staggering 156 times. Post-screening Q&A sessions with Trude have shed light on Mats’ life, encouraged parents to be more involved in their children’s digital activities, and understand their video game communities. “Respect and understanding are key,” Robert emphasizes. “With these qualities, we can regain our role as parents in the digital aspects of our kids’ lives, which currently remains underrepresented in 2024.

Robert and Trude continue to interact with Starlight members, even designing a joint World of Warcraft character as a step towards joining the guild. This is just one example of the film’s positive impacts, but Ree is particularly pleased about the inter-generational conversations that are now taking place. At one of Netflix’s initial screenings, the director recalls a 15-year-old approaching him to express his gratitude for the movie. “Thank you for making this film,” he said to the director. “I can now share it with my parents, helping them understand why gaming holds such significance in my life.

2024-10-25 16:06