Synopsis : Somewhere on the internet is a land where communities pretend to live out a survivalist fiction. The “players” reveal their fears and fantasies, in an at times unsettling blurring of the real and the virtual. In the guise of avatars, directors of Knit’s Island entered an online video game and spent 963 hours there. They come into contact with a community of players and meet their stories, fears, and aspirations.
Festival History : "São Paulo International Film Festival, 2023 Visions du Réel, Documenta Madrid International Film Festival, 2023 Dokufest, Kosovo, 2023"
Awards : Jury Prize - FIPRESCI Award 2023, Visions du Réel
Director :
Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse, Quentin L'helgoualc'h
Producer :
Boris Garavin
Screenplay :
Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse, Quentin L’helgoualc’h
DOP :
Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse, Quentin L’helgoualc’h
Editor :
Nicolas Bancilhon
All three met at the School of Fine Arts of Montpellier. In 2017 they tried their hand at a first documentary exploration in the game GTA V Online, and directed the medium-length film Marlowe Drive. In 2018 they began writing a feature-length documentary, also shot entirely in an online game. This time, they each chose to play an avatar in the survival simulation video game DayZ. For several years they immerse themselves in the game within a community of players willing to take part in the project.