IBELIN: A Review
by Karen Pecota

Benjamin Ree | Norway | 2024

Norwegian filmmaker Benjamin Ree brings to light a fascinating story of childhood friend, Mats Steen, in his latest documentary, IBELIN. The two families were close until Ree’s family moved to a different part of Norway when the kids were young. Time passed and the families lost contact.

Ree heard on social media that Steen had succumbed to an early death at age twenty-five. Saddened and curious to know more details of his friend’s life and passing, he contacts Mats’ parents. Mats’ unique story was revealed only after his death.

Mats’ family thought he lived a lonely and isolated life, a quadriplegic, suffering from a severe muscular disease, he used only computer-generated tools to speak. Often so helpless, they felt sorry for him at times, knowing that he longed to be a man of influence.

Mats’ passing goes viral, and his family begins to receive condolences from his online friends, from around the world. Mats had a secret life they never knew about. He was thriving and living an adventurous existence online, as a popular gamer in the World of Warcraft, as the avatar, he created, known as the handsome hunk Ibelin Redwood.

Shocked and curious as to how this could be they began to dive into his computer and realized that Ibelin, had left a huge impact on a community of fellow gamers—Mats’ life-long dream. Ree asked the Steen family for permission to make a documentary in order to reconstruct Mats’ life in World of Warcraft and invite everyone in— they agreed.

Ree notes, “There were several things that made me connect with this story.” Continuing, “The story of grief, the generation gap, the stigma of gaming, and Mats’ coming of age story inside the game.” Adding, “I had a deep curiosity to try and explore the questions Mats’ parents had been asking themselves, as difficult as it would be, I wanted to try.”

“All of Mats’ archive was public, and Mats had told his parents before he died that he really wanted to be remembered.” Ree said, “That’s why he wrote a blog and participated in a short documentary/informational video about the importance of specialized equipment for people with disabilities.”

Ree goes on to share of the rarity that about 42,000 pages of actual recorded gaming dialogue between Mats and his friends had been archived. Ree says, “Even more impressive is that fact that they used programs to save role-play dialogue and descriptions, and they stored it.” This is a difficult process that is usually accomplished by a guild or community alone, not a friend group. Continuing, “To make the film, we have used this massive archive to reconstruct Ibelin’s life. All dialogue is the actual writing of Mats and his community.”

The presentation of Mats’ secret life—that wasn’t so secret—using the massive amount of research and manpower hours from Ree, Mats’ online friends, as well as, the whole documentary crew, proves to be a journey of personal impact for many. His family gleans a healing process. Ree proudly acknowledges Mats’ dream was realized, “IBELIN showcases how community and deep relationships can cross the boundaries of the physical world.” Mats proved it so with his creativity, integrity, and dignity.