''Thank You for Playing'' is an American

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

, produced and directed by Malika Zouhali-Worrall and David Osit. The film follows the development of the video game ''

That Dragon, Cancer ''That Dragon, Cancer'' is an art video game created by Ryan and Amy Green, Josh Larson, and a small team under the name Numinous Games. The game is an autobiographical based on the Greens' experience of raising their son Joel, who was diagnosed ...

'', which tells the story of Ryan and Amy Green raising their son Joel who has been diagnosed with cancer.

Release

''Thank You for Playing'' premiered on April 17, 2015 at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

. The film was nationally broadcast on POV during the 2016–2017 season on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

Reception

The film has been praised by video game publication ''Unwinnable'', which called it "the most important videogame movie ever made." In his review for ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' Justin Lowe said "By turns touching, funny and sometimes strangely existential, David Osit and Malika Zouhali-Worrall’s documentary, destined for broadcast on public television’s POV program next year, succeeds in telling a highly personal story in a surprisingly relatable manner."

Awards

2015 - Twin Cities Film Festival - Best Documentary
2016 - Cinema Eye Honors nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design or Animation
2017 - News & Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Arts & Culture Documentary
2017 - News & Documentary Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Documentary

2017 - News & Documentary Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Editing, Documentary

References

External links

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''Thank You for Playing''
at POV 2015 films American documentary films 2015 documentary films Documentary films about video games Documentary films about cancer Documentary films about children 2010s English-language films 2010s American films {{2010s-documentary-film-stub