Second Skin

Imagine spending your waking hours in a world where you create who you want to be and you get to re-invent yourself whenever you want. At once removed from the reality of everyday life and an adjunct to it, for some, gaming is less a form of entertainment than a mode of expression.

SECOND SKIN takes an intimate look at three sets of computer gamers whose lives have been transformed by online virtual worlds. An emerging genre of computer software called Massively Multiplayer Online games, or MMOs, allows millions of users to interact simultaneously in virtual spaces. Of the 50 million players worldwide, 50 percent consider themselves addicted. From individuals struggling with addiction to couples who have fallen in love without meeting; from disabled players whose lives have been given new purpose to gold farmers, entrepreneurs and widows, the film opens viewers’ eyes to a phenomenon that may permanently change the way human beings interact.

Juan Carlos Pineiro Escoriza’s film delves into the virtual world to produce a portrait of people for whom the games they play are as vital and important as their off-line lives.