IBELIN (2024)

Ibelin handler om gameren Mats Steen som døde av en muskelsykdom bare 25 år gammel. Foreldrene hans sørget over det de trodde hadde vært et ensomt og isolert liv, da de plutselig begynte å få meldinger fra online-venner av Mats fra hele verden. 

Filmen gjenskaper det rike livet til Mats´ avatar «Ibelin» i spillverdenen. Alt er basert på virkelige hendelser og dialoger, hentet fra rollespill i World of Warcraft.

KUNSTNEREN OG TYVEN / THE PAINTER & THE THIEF (2020)

awards

Winner:

2020 Sundance Film Festival - won World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Creative Storytelling.

2020 Docville - won Jury Award for Best International Documentary (Benjamin Ree)

2020 Hong Kong International Film Festival - won Golden Firebird Award for Documentary (Benjamin Ree). The jury unanimously awarded the Firebird Award to The Painter and the Thief by Norwegian director Benjamin Ree 本杰明李, commending it for “extremely cinematic…mirroring the process of the painter’s search for realistic creativity”.

2020 Nordisk Panorama - won Nordic Documentary Film Award for Best Nordic Documentary (Benjamin Ree).
Motivation: The award goes to a film that challenged the jury and made room for conversations about cinema itself.Depicting a complex relationship, this is a story about self-destructive fascination and the perversity in the romance, but also forgiveness. The structure told through impeccable editing, reveals the intricacies of the psychology of its two main characters. The filming process is here a part of the ambivalence of this relationship driven by the pleasure of being seen through someone else’s eyes. Raw and clear. This is pure cinema!

2020 BFI London Film Festival - won Audience Award for Documentary Feature (Benjamin Ree).

2020 Norwegian International Film Festival - Benjamin Ree won the Andreas Award.
Juryens begrunnelse: «Årets prisvinner forteller en oppsiktsvekkende historie om et særegent møte. Den lykkes til fulle med å minne oss på at ingen er bare det du først ser, men at hvert enkelt menneske har krav på respekt, omsorg og å bli sett på et fundamentalt plan. Filmen skildrer to mennesker som på tross av omstendighetene viser stor vilje og evne til å se hverandre. De stiller sin styrke og sin sårbarhet til skue, for hverandre og for oss, uten at det blir påtrengende eller sentimentalt. Filmen inkluderer også et kritisk perspektiv, og overrasker stadig med nye vendinger. Den bryter ned fasadene, slik kunsten kan gjøre det, og løfter fram en sterk humanitet og dype menneskelige bånd. Prisvinneren gnistrer av menneskeverd, kunst og kjærlighet.»

2020 Nordic Docs - won Nordic Docs Special Jury Award 2020 (Benjamin Ree)

2020 Atlàntida Film Fest - won Premio del Público (Audience Award) (Benjamin Ree)

Honorable mention:

2020 DocAviv Film Festival - Best International Film (Benjamin Ree). Jury's justification: The exceptional storytelling work creates a multi-layered narrative about two unique outsiders. Ultimately about the redemptive possibilities of art, the film makes surprising discoveries in the power of human compassion.

2020 HUMAN International Documentary Film Festival - Norwegian Competition Program (Benjamin Ree). Juryens begrunnelse: “Juryen er glad for å kunne tildele en hederlig omtale til en film som virkelig begeistret oss alle tre. Det er en velsignelse å oppdage en så unik historie som denne. Det harde arbeidet og utholdenheten til regissøren kommer virkelig gjennom, og juryen er dypt imponert over hvordan historien blir fortalt og presentert. Noen av scenene gir oss hakeslipp, og plottvendingene gjør denne filmen til en fantastisk filmopplevelse. Vår hederlig omtale går til Kunstneren og tyven og regissør Benjamin Ree.”

Nominee:

2020 Sundance Film Festival - nominated for Grand Jury Prize, World Cinema - Documentary (Benjamin Ree)

2020 Adelaide Film Festival - nominated for International Documentary Award - Best Documentary (Benjamin Ree)

2020 DocAviv Film Festival - Best International Film (Benjamin Ree) - won Honorable Mention

2020 Critics' Choice Documentary Awards - nominated for Best Director (Benjamin Ree) and Best Documentary (Neon)

2020 One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival - nominated for Grand Jury Prize in the International Competition (Benjamin Ree)2020 Tempo Documentary Festival - nominated for Stefan Jarl International Documentary Award, Best International Documentary (Benjamin Ree)

2020 Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival - nominated for Golden Alexander in the International Competition (Benjamin Ree)

2020 ZagrebDox - nominated for Golden Eye, Best International Documentary Film (Benjamin Ree)

Read more on IMDB

Notable articles and lists

• The Painter and the Thief was the best documentary of 2020 according to this list by Washington Post

• The Painter and the Thief made it onto IDA Staff Picks: Documentaries of the Decade list!

• The Painter and the Thief got first place in this list from VOX on the best movies of 2020

• The Painter and the Thief made it onto BBCs list of the best films of the year

• The Painter and the Thief got fifth place on the list of Best Documentary in the 2020 Critics Poll on Indiewire

• The Painter and the Thief came in second on the list of Best Documentaries by Boston Society of Film Critics Awards

• The Painter and the Thief made it onto a list of Pedro Almodovars favorites in 2020

norske anmeldelser

terningkast 6:

“Den mest overraskende og rørende dokumentaren du ser i år. (….) «Kunstneren og tyven» er rett og slett en unik film om to interessante mennesker som forenes av en tilfeldig hendelse, fortalt med en fingerspissfølelse ikke mange filmskapere kan vise til.” - VG, Asbjørn Slettemark

“Mesterlig dokumentarfilm som utfordrer våre fordommer. (…) Det er en feiring av empati, kjærlighet og tilgivelse, sett gjennom Rees og Kristoffer Kumars våkne og observante kameralinser, som avdekker Barbora og Bertils kampvilje, skaperkraft, feilsteg, mangler og behov..” - P3, Birger Vestmo

“Denne filmen bør du sjå! Punktum. (…) Det er så ekte, så sterkt, så hudlaust, at du skal ha ein personlegdom av betong for ikkje å bli rørt, for ikkje å kjenna det i magen.” - Stavanger Aftenblad, Jan Zahl

“Det er nesten ikke til å tro, men med såre, enkle virkemidler skaper han [Benjamin Ree] mer magi her enn noen påkostet blockbuster er i stand til på kino for tiden.” - Aftenposten, Kjetil Lismoen

“Historien er veldig spesiell i seg selv, men så er den også drivende godt fortalt og er både rørende og får en til å tenke.” - TV2 God Morgen Norge, Camilla Laache

“Jeg simpelthen elsker folk med bikkjelos; som har denne ubestemmelige magefølelsen av at her er det noe mer” - Hamar Arbeiderblad, Remi Laakso

“Årets beste norske film” - CINEMA, Geir Kamsvåg

terningkast 5:

“Kunstneren og tyven» er norsk dokumentar på sitt beste. Regissør Benjanim Ree har laget en av årets beste filmer om kunst og vennskap.” - Natt & Dag, Marco Reinertsen

international REVIEWS

“Director Benjamin Ree followed his subjects for years to create this richly-layered, moving chronicle of inspiration, guilt and reinvention.”
- (CJ), BBC in their list “The best films of 2020 so far”

“(…) crime yarn that leaves some mysteries unsolved.”
- Danny Lane, Financial Times

“I think Benjamin is a beautiful storyteller. In his work, he shows that we all have more in common than we think. (…)”
- Kami, The BFI London Film Festival

“ (…) and that’s why “The Painter and the Thief” is such a good lockdown movie, to be watched in the early evening and then argued about over spaghetti - or with spaghetti, if the discussion gets intense. The last word, though, must go to the Bertilizer. Asked why he stole the paintings from the gallery, he says, “Because they were beautiful.” No arguing with that.”
- Anthony Lane, The New York Times

“Engrossing. The film’s sustained intimacy speaks highly of the trust the subjects came to feel for the filmmaker,who is able to cut to the quick as he follows and reveals their life phases while also maintaining a filmmaker’s discreet distance.”
– Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter

“Incredible.”
[An] astonishing documentary. The cinematic equivalent of a cubist portrait,
in which an artist and her unlikely muse are made to overlap,
revealing unexpected dimensions of one another over time.”
“In a genius final stroke, Ree pulls back to reveal the entire canvas,”
“[...]what is almost certainly documentary history: An artist plans a heist to steal back her missing work.”
– Peter Debruge, Variety

“(…) the ending, the last shot, made me quietly gasp as my eyes filled with tears. You realize that it's not what Barbora, the painter, did for the thief ultimately in terms of her forgiveness and compassion. But it's what Karl, the thief, ultimately gave to Barbora, the artist, a gift.”
- Bret Easton Ellis in his podcast on Patreon

“A painted portrait tries to capture its subject in two dimensions. The Painter and the Thief sees its subjects in multiple ones,
going ever deeper and broader as it approaches its characters from different angles… Cinematographer Kristoffer Kumar
makes the most of Kysilkova’s haunted canvases... An intriguing tale of lost souls and found redemption.”
– Stephen Whitty, Screen International

“[A] nuanced and beguiling new documentary about the various things we all take from each other…
It’s a raw and loaded... frequently riveting movie… a work of art unto itself.”
– David Ehrlich, IndieWire

“[The] rare film that honestly explores the connection between compassion, desire, and the sublime.”
– Bilge Ebiri, Vulture

“The unbelievable saga of an unlikely friendship, and is comprised of life’s natural highs, shattering lows, and the gradual moments of growth in between…
A documentary that looks at everyday humanity as a work of art.”
– Nick Allen, RogerEbert.com

One of "The Best Movies From the 2020 Sundance Film Festival”
“Ree paints a remarkable portrait of two lives that become intertwined. The Painter and the Thief mostly lets the viewer just live with these
people and the tension that exists between them as it weaves in questions about muses, pain, and the act of creating art.”
– Esther Zuckerman, Thrillist

“An unexpected, multi-layered journey of eye-opening discovery… [An] exceptionally well-crafted verité documentary…
a compelling story of a man who’s seemingly lost everything, who finds potential… the non-linear joy of the film, which clearly and
powerfully connects the painter with her muse in an arresting and unusual way. The results are breathtaking to watch.”
– Ed Gibbs, Little White Lies

“Structurally interesting and packed with raw emotion and humanity. [He] knows a good story when he sees it.
Certainly, he has found one for his latest documentary… Ree has a strong instinct for documentary narrative… he upends expectations…
he keeps firm control of the film, allowing the full picture to emerge at its own pace until it fills the frame in unexpected ways.”
– Amber Wilkinson, Eye For Film

“[An] unconventional approach to a highly unusual story.”
– Lauren Wissot, Filmmaker Magazine

“It’s a remarkable story and an equally remarkable film.”
– Christopher Reed, Hammer To Nail

“The Painter and the Thief is both audacious and thrilling in equal measure as it chronicles a unique, and highly unlikely, friendship.”
– Nick Cunningham, Business Doc Europe

“Affecting and… powerful. The Painter and The Thief captures some remarkable ‘holy moments’... The story is remarkable.”
– Scott Renshaw, Salt Lake City Weekly

“Ree and co-cinematographer Kristoffer Kumar’s verité camerawork is remarkable… the light their work captures is often revelatory…
What makes the cinematography special is the potent intimacy… a gift that Ree gives us, The Painter and the Thief as instructive as it is a compelling tale.”
– Michael Mejia, Salt Lake Magazine

“‘The Painter and the Thief’ is among the more buzzed-about documentaries at Sundance this year.”
– Court Mann, Deseret News

“Sharp as a scalpel, peels back the layers... The Painter and the Thief; itself a work of poetry and art… I love this movie. It's a precious thing.”
– Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central

“Benjamin Ree unveils layer upon layer. The Painter and the Thief shows that we should also look for the light in a world of darkness.”
– Danielle Solzman, Solzy At The Movies

“The story told in ‘The Painter and the Thief’ is one of the rarest things… it delivers the biggest surprise with a life-long lasting impact.”
– Ulkar Alakbarova, Let The Movies Move Me

“You won’t find a doc more empathetic than this one.”
– Hadley Griggs, Sundance Blog

artiklene som startet alt / The articles that started it all

2015:

“To store malerier verdt til sammen 182 000 kroner ble stjålet fra lokalene til Galleri Nobel i Oslo mandag formiddag (…)” - NRK Østlandssendingen

“Vi har indikasjoner på at politiet har sett hvem som gjorde det (…)” - Dagens Næringsliv

2016:

“Han stjal to av hennes malerier. Men så oppsto et helt uvanlig vennskap mellom kunstneren og tyven.” - Aftenposten

Intervju hos TV2 God Morgen Norge