Year: 2008
Format: HD
Runtime: 1 hr 16 min (76 min)
Beyond the Game is set in the world of incredibly popular cyber games and portrays several top players in the run-up to the World Championship.
The protagonists are an Asian and a European player, known in the cyber world as Sky and Grubby. Sky is 20, comes from China, and is the world champion in the game Warcraft. Grubby is 21, comes from Holland, and is the former Warcraft world champion. The film portrays the lives of these two top players on the way to their final duel, as if it were a hypermodern Western.
Sky once ran away from home to play cyber games and acquired his skills in cellars and game halls until he was a dextrous star. Grubby is considered to be the artist of the game, and an idol in the Warcraft community.
Warcraft is highly popular within the world of cyber games. It is a war game, a duel between two players who have to try to destroy each other at high speed while keeping their own economy running. The game is not only the subject of the film but also strongly influences its visual style. Archetypes from the game, in a certain sense, take possession of the player's psyche and "guide" them on their road, both in the game and in real life.
Festivals:
a.o. IDFA, Nyon, HotDocs
Written & directed by Jos de Putter
Director of photography: Richard van Oosterhout; Vladas Naudzius; Jacko van ‘t Hof
Edited by Sander Vos
Sound recording: Alex Booy
Original music by Paul M. Van Brugge
Sound design: Boon & Booy
Produced by Wink de Putter
Copyright 2008 DIEPTESCHERPTE BV / HUMAN
