Star Wars Kid: The Rise of the Digital Shadows
Ghyslain Raza breaks his silence
Star Wars Kid: The Rise of the Digital Shadows (2022)
In April 2003, a video of lightsaber-wielding teenager Ghyslain Raza arrived online and became a worldwide sensation, eventually earning more than a billion views. Widely perceived as a misguided Star Wars fanatic hungry for attention, Raza only had a casual interest in the franchise, and the original tape was a camera test for a school project he never intended to show anyone. Shared without his consent, the video went on to saturate mainstream culture, but rather than benefit from this attention, Raza was ridiculed, hounded by the press, and bullied by his classmates, ultimately forcing him to withdraw from school and all aspects of public life.
In Star Wars Kid: The Rise of the Digital Shadows, Raza breaks his silence, revealing how this internet phenomenon became a harrowing personal ordeal – and the path he took to restore his self-esteem and find a sense of purpose as an adult. Fleshing out Raza and his experience, director Mathieu Fournier brings new depth to a story that went global without going deep and even brings Raza into contact with the blogger who turned him into a meme. It’s a potent look at high-tech harassment and disturbing new threats emerging online today.
Special features
• New digital master, approved by director Mathieu Fournier, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• Complete English and French versions of the film
• New audio commentary featuring Fournier, producer Pierre-Mathieu Fortin, and subject Ghyslain Raza
• New audio commentary featuring Patrick Cotnoir of The George Lucas Talk Show and Star Wars Insider‘s Brandon Wainerdi
• Digital Shadows (2026, 23 min.) – New interview with Fournier
• Ghyslain Raza Q&A (2022, 4 min.)
• Outtake with professor Nina Duque (2022, 1 min.)
• Star Wars Kid trailer and teasers
• Double-sided poster
• Reversible cover artwork
• English and French SDH subtitles
• New slip art by Colin Murdoch
Canadian International Pictures
From arthouse to Canuxploitation, Canadian International Pictures (CIP) is devoted to resurrecting vital, distinctive, and overlooked triumphs of Canadian and Québécois cinema. We are focused on the country’s original cinematic boom years – spanning the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s – occasionally venturing past that period (and the country’s borders) to highlight the films of Canada’s most inspired actors and filmmakers.
