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Thank You for Playing
IDFA 2015

Thank You for Playing

David Osit, Malika Zouhali-Worrall
United States
2015
80 min
European Premiere
Festival history
Ryan and Amy have three children when one day, they receive devastating news: their youngest son, one-year-old Joel, has incurable cancer. The next few years of their lives are dominated by hope and fear, and at the same time they make every effort to enjoy their family to the fullest. Ryan designs video games for a living and finds a remarkable outlet for his fear and sorrow: he starts creating a new game called , in which Joel and his parents play the lead roles. The film follows the family over a long period of time, including the process of creating the game. The result is a candid impression of illness and grief – with all the fear, doubt, sadness and anger that come along with it – but it also looks at the role and purpose of art and modern technology. A lot of people have positive opinions about these, but the critics say you can’t deal with something as terrible as cancer through a superficial form of entertainment like a video game. Ryan also has his doubts, but personally all he can do is use his creativity to express his emotions. The video game is also featured in IDFA's DocLab: Seamless Reality program.
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Cinematography