The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, a World of Warcraft documentary, is a 'coming of age story'. 'We are trying to capture a person'

Netflix began streaming The Remarkable Life of Ibelin earlier this week. It's a film about Mats Steen who died aged 25 of Duchenne muscular Dystrophy, a rare, degenerative disorder. After his death, his parents--who'd feared that their son's disease had kept him from experiencing companionship--discovered that he'd lived a second life in World of Warcraft as the dashing rogue Ibelin, who spent 20,000 hours roleplaying alongside a close-knit guild of friends. The film uses in-game assets to capture moments from Mats's time as Ibelin. It reconstructs eight years of friendship and flirting from blog posts and roleplay transcriptions.

Benjamin Ree is the director of the documentary. I spoke to him to find out what about Mats Steen’s story resonated with him. Ree first learned about Ibelin through a Facebook post by Steen's Uncle, who was also Ree's filmmaking instructor. Ree initially didn't think of turning it into a movie, despite the fact that he thought the story was "extremely emotional and powerful." This changed when he realized how much of Steen and Ibelin's life had been recorded.

Ree told Ree, "I called Mats's uncle to tell him what a great story that was for me. He told me that his younger brother had filmed Mats from the moment he was born." Steen's Uncle also said that Starlight, Ibelin's guild, had a massive archive of roleplay interactions. "That's when I thought, Maybe it's even possible to make a document here.'

Ree explained that Steen's parents were "not sure if they would want to be in a film," but they were interested in having their recordings of Mats life digitized. Ree agreed to digitize the recordings, regardless of whether they would lead to a documentary. What followed was a serendipitous moment.

"The first footage that I saw was Mats as a child." He was about 8 months old and there was another baby right next to him. Ree thought that the baby next to Mats looked familiar.

"I thought it looked a bit like me when I was a baby but I also said, 'Oh no, it can't'. "I was just laughing off," he said. Then he began to recognize more faces. He also saw his parents on the tape.

Ree explained, "I asked my mother to look through our family album and she found a photo of Mats and I in a playpen." His parents and the Steens were once family friends. They grew apart after Ree moved her family to a new part of Norway. "I had met Mats before I knew it. It almost felt as if it was meant to happen.

Ree said that as he began to chart Steen's eight-year journey in World of Warcraft he felt like a classic "coming of ages story."

Ree explained, "One of my first observations and realizations when I started reading the chat logs was that Mats experienced many of the same things I had as a child--making new friends, falling in love, acting badly, losing touch with two of his closest friends and regaining contact," she said. "The main difference is that Mats experienced these things in a video game, while I had experienced them in real life."

I asked Ree how much he had learned about Mats Steen by reading his blog, going through thousands of his roleplaying transcriptions, and talking to guildmates who knew him under the name Ibelin. "Mats was an intelligent, charming, honest, funny, and shy person. Ree said that he was a good listener. "At the time, he was self-destructive. He could lie, withhold information, lash out at his friends, or be angry. He could hide behind the screen because of the difficulties he was facing.

Ree said that one of the goals of the film was to show the full breadth and depth of Steen's character, even in moments when it may not be flattering. The alternative would be to dehumanize Steen, as people with disabilities are often portrayed in caricatures and one-dimensional positives.

"These are all opposite personality traits, and that is how life works." Ree added that Mats' family and friends also believed he would like to be portrayed in this way, not as a saint but as a normal person. "We all have both positive and negative sides. This is what we are trying to explore with this film. We're trying capture a human."

Ree, who has never played World of Warcraft, said that he learned to appreciate the connections digital spaces such as MMOs can provide the people inhabiting them. Ree said, "I think online and virtual friendships have a lot value. One of the values is they spend a lot time together."

"I'm fortunate today if I get to see my best friend every other week." Ree explained that we only had 37 minutes to spend together. World of Warcraft, on the other hand, gave Steen and his fellow guildmates a lot more time to spend together. "Mats, his friends and I were together a lot -- sometimes five hours a day."

Ree believes that Steen was able to connect with his friends in Azeroth in a way that he would not have been able if they were subjected to real-world constraints. Ree said, "Mats asked his friends how they were doing all the time." "And there are so many different ways to ask this question. You can feel the difference in 'How are your doing?' You can feel the difference between 'How are YOU doing?' and a more specific question like 'How are you reallydoing?" I have time to listen to what you say. Mats prioritised spending time with friends and listening."

Netflix has The Remarkable life of Ibelin available now.