The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

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

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

Contents

Content

The film documents the life of "Mats Steen, a Norwegian gamer who died of a degenerative muscular disease at the age of 25." [3] The title comes from the name of his character in World of Warcraft. [4]

Release

Ibelin premiered on 19 January 2024 in the World Documentary Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival where it won the Audience 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. [5] [6]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 100% of 20 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.2/10. [7] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 72 out of 100, based on nine 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." [4]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Ibelin". Sundance Film Festival . Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  2. 1 2 Ebiri, Bilge (19 January 2024). "The Moving Ibelin Captures a Life Only Seemingly Half-Lived". Vulture. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  3. 1 2 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. 1 2 "Benjamin Ree • Director of Ibelin". Cineuropa - the best of european cinema. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  5. Oleszkiewicz, Anthony (21 May 2024). "The Remarkable Life of Ibelin[Chicago Critics Festival 2024]". Starburst . Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  6. "Whānau Mārama: The Remarkable Life of Ibelin". New Zealand International Film Festival . Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  7. "The Remarkable Life of Ibelin". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved 17 March 2024. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  8. "The Remarkable Life of Ibelin". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 17 March 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.