EXCLUSIVE: Trailer for the title of Visions du Réel Knit’s Island

04/24/2023 – The doc by Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse and Quentin L’helgoualc’h takes place in online video games DayZwhere filmmakers meet a community of gamers and hear their stories

Last week, Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse And Quentin L’helgoualc’hIt is knit island [+see also:
trailer
film profile] had its world premiere in this year’s Visions of Reality Burning Lights Competition. The film takes place entirely inside the online survival simulation video game DayZwhere filmmakers meet a community of gamers, hear their stories, and uncover their fears and aspirations.

Somewhere on the internet there is a 250 square kilometer space in which individuals gather in communities to simulate survivalist fiction. Under cover of avatars, a film crew enters this place and comes into contact with the “locals”. This mysterious and post-apocalyptic rural landscape reveals itself as a meeting place where stories, ideas and friendships are shared. Slowly, the players lower their masks to reveal their realities, their daily lives and their relationships of love and friendship. Combining their memories of the game with stories of their real life, a group will take us on a journey to the margins of the internet. By going to the confines of the game, in search of the limits of this place, the film explores the first steps in the virtualization of our lives, and questions the future of our world.

knit island is the first collective feature film of the three filmmakers reunited and follows their medium-length film Marlowe Walkfixed in the Grand Theft Auto V universe and screened during a retrospective exhibition of David Lynch’s cinema at the Center d’Art de Montpellier, MO.CO.

“Initially, we wanted to make another film in GTA. But we quickly became interested in games where it was possible to speak directly from avatar to avatar, with spatialized sound, which reinforced this impression of reality or immersion. This is what makes the encounter between two people so precious and special in DayZ. We are on a very large map, with only 80 players, in a rather stressful environment. As soon as there is a meeting with people, player against player, it becomes extremely strong, extremely powerful”, explained the directors.

knit island was produced by Boris Garavini for Les Films Invisibles (France), with Anna Medveczky And Joachim Herard serving as associate producers. Square Eyes manages its international sales.

Check out our exclusive trailer below: