David Osit
David is a documentary film director, editor and composer. He received his bachelorʼs degree at the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Michigan, and studied Refugee Law at the American University of Cairo. David is a recipient of the Anthony Rhodes Vice Presidential Scholarship and received his MFA in Social Documentary Film from the School of Visual Arts in New York. Among his works the feature documentary BUILDING BABEL.

Malika Zouhali-Worrall
Malika is an award-winning director, producer and editor of British/Moroccan origin. Malika is a graduate of Cambridge University, and holds an M.A. in International Affairs from the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po). She is one of the directors and the producer of CALL ME KUCHU (2012), a documentary that depicts the last year in the life of the first openly gay man in Uganda, David Kato.

Directors' statement
“Ryan and Amy’s video game, “That Dragon, Cancer” comes at a time when video games and interactive media are emerging as a wildly innovative art form, even as society is questioning humans’ relationship with, and dependence on, technology. We are fascinated by this tension, which is why we set out to make this film. From the moment we first heard about “That Dragon, Cancer”, we immediately wanted to know more about why Ryan and Amy had chosen a video game-a medium so often associated with explosions and violence-to convey one of the most emotional, personal and private experiences a family can go through. Once we saw for ourselves how many people were profoundly moved by the game, and how playing it often facilitated more, rather than less, social interaction, we were hooked and knew we had to keep following this story. The fact that a video game was capable of awakening this sort of empathy astounded us, and we soon realized that Ryan isn’t only a video game developer, he’s also an artist-and programming is his paintbrush. Thank You For Playing explores the very personal experiences of a family dealing with cancer, and the beauty and hope that can be found in art, while also examining the age-old question of where the boundaries lie in representing difficult emotional experiences in art. Ultimately, we hope the film will challenge people to re-examine their own assumptions about bereavement, technology, video games, and art”.