Somewhere on the Internet, there is a space of 250 square kilometers in which individuals gather in community to simulate a survivalist fiction. Under the guise of avatars, a film crew enters this place and makes contact with players. Who are these inhabitants? Are they actually playing?
Knit’s Island
a film by
“Eye-opening exploration of the communities which exist inside survivalist online video game ‘DayZ’”
“Eye-opening exploration of the communities which exist inside survivalist online video game ‘DayZ’”
Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse, Quentin L'helgoualc'h
Combined biography
Guilhem Causse, Ekiem Barbier and Quentin L’helgoualc’h met at the School of Fine Arts of Montpellier. In 2016 they formed a research group that questions the relationship to reality in online video games. 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, which they screened during a retrospective exhibition of David Lynch’s cinema at the Art Center of Montpellier, MO.CO. The film goes to meet avatars animated by real people and addresses issues concerning our relationship to virtual through the representation of the American consumerist dream suggested by the game. The film was presented at the Brive medium-length film festival, at the FIFIB Bordeaux, at the Centquatre studio and at the Cartier foundation, among others. 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. In 2022 the film production was completed. Meanwhile, they take part in seminars and conferences on digital technology, like at the Turing Centre at ETH Zurich, at the Sorbonne and at the University of Paris 8.
Combined filmography
● Knit’s Island, 2013 (documentary)
● Marlowe Drive, 2017 (short documentary)
