# The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin is a 2024 Norwegian documentary film directed by Benjamin Ree.
The film premiered, under its original title Ibelin, on 19 January 2024 at the Sundance Film Festival where it won 2 awards in the World Documentary Competition—the Audience Award and the Directing Award.

## Synopsis

Mats Steen, a Norwegian man born with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, becomes increasingly unable to participate in everyday activities. As a result, he spends most of his time playing video games, particularly World of Warcraft. His parents worry that he will miss out on life, unaware of what he does in the game.
Towards the end of his life, he starts a blog about living with the disease. When he dies at the age of 25, he leaves behind the password to it. His family uses the blog to announce his death, leading to various replies from his friends. The film tells the story of his life in the World of Warcraft guild Starlight—where he played the character Ibelin Redmoore—through animations based on the game, interspersed with retrospectives from his guild members, family, and excerpts from his blog.
As Ibelin, Steen kept his identity and medical condition a secret, worried that other guild members would treat him differently if they knew. He refused to communicate outside text chat, but he still developed close relationships with other guild members. He was perceived as a reliable friend they could share their problems with.
Steen's condition worsens over time, and it becomes harder for him to play the game. He appears more agitated, causing drama regarding his relationships in the guild, eventually leading him to lash out at a guild member. As his condition deteriorates, he develops severe breathing difficulties and has to be hospitalised. The guild member he lashed out at becomes concerned regarding Steen's absence, and confronts him about it. He explains his condition, and his fear of others' reactions. The friend encourages him to tell the other guild members, and he decides to apologise to the guild about his previous behaviour, later sharing his blog with them.
Eventually, Steen dies from muscular dystrophy. Five guild members from abroad attend his funeral in Oslo. The rest gather in the game, which becomes a yearly tradition. The film ends with a shot of his tombstone, which reads Mats "Ibelin" Steen.

## Release

Ibelin premiered on 19 January 2024 in the World Documentary Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival where it won 2 awards, the Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary and The Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary. Shortly after, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film. 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. It has been selected for the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024, under the World Cinema section.

## Reception
### Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 50 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.9/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 78 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. 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." Other reviews were also extremely positive. Cineeuropa found that Ree "ends up with a film that’s not about death; rather, it’s about friendship, love and life."

### Accolades

| Award | Date | Category | Recipient | Result |
| Sundance Film Festival | 28 January 2024 | World Cinema Documentary – Grand Jury Prize | The Remarkable Life of Ibelin | Nominated |
| Sundance Film Festival | 28 January 2024 | World Cinema Documentary – Audience Award | The Remarkable Life of Ibelin | Won |
| Sundance Film Festival | 28 January 2024 | World Cinema Documentary – Directing | Benjamin Ree | Won |
| Amanda Awards | 23 August 2024 | Best Film | Benjamin Ree & Ingvil Giske | Won |
| Amanda Awards | 23 August 2024 | Best Documentary Film | Benjamin Ree & Ingvil Giske | Nominated |
| Amanda Awards | 23 August 2024 | Best Director | Benjamin Ree | Nominated |
| Amanda Awards | 23 August 2024 | Best Editing | Robert Stengård | Won |
| Amanda Awards | 23 August 2024 | Best Visual Effects | Rasmus Tukia, Ada Wikdahl, Chris Kongshaug, Derek Bancroft, Sindre Hammersbøen & Arash Ebrahimi | Nominated |
| Zurich Film Festival | 13 October 2024 | Best International Documentary Film | The Remarkable Life of Ibelin | Nominated |
| Critics' Choice Documentary Awards | 10 November 2024 | Best Documentary Feature | The Remarkable Life of Ibelin | Nominated |
| Critics' Choice Documentary Awards | 10 November 2024 | Best Biographical Documentary | The Remarkable Life of Ibelin | Nominated |
| Critics' Choice Documentary Awards | 10 November 2024 | Best Director | Benjamin Ree | Nominated |
| Critics' Choice Documentary Awards | 10 November 2024 | Best Score | Uno Helmersson | Nominated |
| Critics' Choice Documentary Awards | 10 November 2024 | Best Editing | Robert Stengård | Nominated |
| International Documentary Association Awards | 5 December 2024 | Best Feature Documentary | Benjamin Ree, Ingvil Giske | Nominated |
| International Documentary Association Awards | 5 December 2024 | Best Original Music Score | Uno Helmersson | Nominated |
| European Film Awards | 7 December 2024 | European Young Audience Award | The Remarkable Life of Ibelin | Won |
| Astra Film Awards | 8 December 2024 | Best Documentary Feature | The Remarkable Life of Ibelin | Nominated |
| Austin Film Critics Association | 6 January 2025 | Best Documentary Film | The Remarkable Life of Ibelin | Nominated |
| Cinema Eye Honors | 9 January 2025 | Audience Choice Prize | The Remarkable Life of Ibelin | Nominated |
| Cinema Eye Honors | 9 January 2025 | Outstanding Visual Design | Rasmus Tukia and Ada Wikdahl | Nominated |
| Cinema Eye Honors | 9 January 2025 | Outstanding Original Score | Uno Helmersson | Won |