Somewhere on the internet there is a post-apocalyptic land in which thousands of avatars are fighting for survival. An online video game. In the film, we accompany three avatars in their encounters with the players and meet, for example, a troop of murderous cannibals, a priest who pays homage to a god in the form of a wolf or members of a cartel. Gradually, the real people behind the role-playing avatars shine through and the thin membrane between role-playing and reality gradually becomes permeable. The people behind the avatars then have to have a drink, smoke a cigarette or quickly take care of a crying child - in real life. For the players, the video game is an escape from their individual reality and a place of refuge, like the pub around the corner. But also a place that offers opportunities; "to do a social experiment", as one of the players says, "to control the narrative".
Supporting film: Issues with My Other Half (Anna Vasof, 2023, 5 min., without dialogue)
DIRECTOR
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Guilhem Causse, Ekiem Barbier and Quentin L’helgoualc’h
Guilhem Causse, Ekiem Barbier and Quentin L'helgoualc'h met at the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Montpellier and founded a research group in 2016 to explore the relationship to reality in online video games. In 2017, they made their first attempt at a documentary study in the game GTA V Online and shot a medium-length film. In 2018, they begin work on the documentary film Knit's Island.
