As part of their annual Geeked Week celebration, Netflix is releasing news and trailers for many of their new TV series, seasons, and films. Among them is a new documentary that premiered at Sundance earlier this year. The Remarkable Life of Ibelin documents the story of Mats Steen, a Norwegian gamer who was affected by a rare form of muscular dystrophy, and the community he found in World of Warcraft.
It’s a story that has made its rounds in the WoW community before, notably with this article by the BBC in 2019. Many World of Warcraft players will find something relatable in the tale; most of us have met people through the game who we would never have otherwise known, and who have changed our lives in countless ways both small and large.
The film seems to feature some excellent animations of World of Warcraft characters intermixed with real-life footage and interviews. The documentary won the Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
Mats sadly passed away in 2014 at the age of 25, but his guild, Starlight, is still active and still holds an annual memorial in his honor. Now his story will be brought to a wide audience on Netflix starting October 25th.
About the Author
Luxrah
I've been playing World of Warcraft on and off since vanilla, usually as a healer or caster and often as a guild leader. I play both retail and classic. I also love RPGs, sandboxes, and sims.
