Game of the Year: first documentary on Italian video game scene

Alessandro Redaelli directed Game of the Year, the first feature documentary on the Italian video game scene, produced by Withstand Film. The film won Best Italian Film at Biografilm Festival 2021. It adopts an observational 'fly-on-the-wall' approach over 18 months, using static tripod shots focused on details and faces. The documentary features content creators Michele 'Sabaku no Maiku' Poggi, Mattia 'Attrix' Attrice, and Alena 'Ciaomia' Zueva; professional gamers Simone 'N0cs' Rosi and Riccardo 'Reynor' Romiti (who later won the world title in Starcraft 2); and three development studios: Yonder (Giuseppe Mancini, Francesca Zacchìa), Morbidware (Matteo Corradini, Diego Sacchetti), and Kibou (Simone Granata, Davide Isimbaldi, Antonella Bovino). The film deliberately avoids celebrating video games as art or economic powerhouse, instead portraying the precarious lives of developers, streamers, and esports athletes. It shows little gameplay, focusing entirely on the people who make and work with games.