Immortality or Bust
| Immortality or Bust | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Daniel Sollinger |
| Produced by | David Kekich |
| Starring | Zoltan Istvan |
| Edited by | Quinn Maloy Williams |
| Music by | A. Jeffrey Jacobson |
Release date |
|
Running time | 87 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Immortality or Bust is a 2019 feature documentary focusing on the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign of Transhumanist Party nominee Zoltan Istvan.[1][2] Directed by Daniel Sollinger, it won two awards at film festivals - the Breakout Award at the 2019 Raw Science Film Festival and Best Biohacking Awareness Documentary at the GeekFest Toronto 2021.[3][4] It is distributed by Gravitas Ventures.[5][6]
Synopsis
Immortality or Bust explores the transhumanism movement and its major personalities as Zoltan Istvan drives his "Immortality Bus" across America.[7][8][9]
The film begins with Istvan and his mother, Ilona Gyurko, mourning over the body of his father, Steven Gyurko.[10][11] Months before his death, Istvan had been driving a 38-foot campaign bus shaped like a giant coffin in hopes of generating publicity for life extension science, which aims to overcome death with technologies such as genetic editing, robotic organs, and mind uploading.
Aboard the bus and featured in the documentary are embedded journalists from media such as The New York Times, The Verge, Vox, The Telegraph, and Der Spiegel.[12][13][14][15][16]
The documentary explores biohacker gathering GrindFest, cryonics facility Alcor, Jacque Fresco's The Venus Project, and The Church of Perpetual Life, and virtual reality's Second Life via Terasem, among other places.
The documentary also features Istvan's visits with then Cyborg Party presidential candidate John McAfee, 2016 Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, and comedian Jimmy Dore.[17][18] In the documentary Alex Jones and Fox News criticize Istvan's presidential campaign while Good Mythical Morning, underground group Anonymous offer support, and John Horgan at Scientific American offer support.[19][20]
Immortality or Bust also focuses on Istvan's presidential campaign events, from California street demonstrations supporting transhumanism, to talks at Harvard University, to advocating for universal basic income, to delivering a Transhumanist Bill of Rights to the US Capitol. It also features Istvan's complex marriage to his wife and how his political ambitions affect his young children. The film concludes with Istvan's father voting for his son before he dies.
Cast
- Zoltan Istvan
- John McAfee
- Gary Johnson
- Alex Jones
- Jimmy Dore
- Max More
- Jacque Fresco
- William Falloon
- John Horgan
- Erica Orange
- Rich Lee
- Alexis Madrigal
- Maitreya One
Criticism
Film Threat reviewer Chris Salce says Istvan mentions Jurassic Park themes too much in his transhumanism ideas, and that works against the overall message of the film.[10]
References
- ^ Follows, Tracey. "Immortality Or Bust: Transhumanism In The White House". Forbes. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
- ^ Bickerton, James (June 28, 2020). "New film follows US Presidential candidate who thinks humans can ABOLISH DEATH". Express.co.uk. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
- ^ "Immortality or Bust". IMDb. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
- ^ "2019 Festival". Raw Science Film Festival. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
- ^ "Immortality or Bust Documentary". Gravitas Ventures. June 18, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
- ^ "News – GeekFestToronto – February 12 – 14, 2021". Retrieved August 17, 2021.
- ^ "Film: Immortality or Bust". Humanist Freedoms. June 27, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
- ^ Smistad, John (July 2, 2020). "Elucidating Eternal Life with "Immortality or Bust" (2020) Filmmaker Daniel Sollinger". The Movie Blog. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
- ^ Prisco, Giulio (January 24, 2019). "Immortality or Bust: On the road to the future with Zoltan Istvan". Turing Church. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
- ^ a b says, Sophia (July 15, 2020). "Immortality or Bust". Film Threat. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
- ^ "Immortality or Bust Trailer Politicizes Neolution". Den of Geek. June 14, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
- ^ O'Connell, Mark (February 9, 2017). "600 Miles in a Coffin-Shaped Bus, Campaigning Against Death Itself". The New York Times. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
- ^ Matthews, Dylan (September 8, 2015). "Forget Donald Trump. Meet Zoltan Istvan, the only presidential candidate promising eternal". Vox. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
- ^ Elmo Keep; Nancy Borowick. "Meet the man who wants to be president, and then live forever". TheVerge.com. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
- ^ Bartlett, Jamie (December 23, 2014). "Meet the Transhumanist Party: 'Want to live forever? Vote for me'". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
- ^ Medick, Veit. "Zoltan Istvan: US-Wahlkampf aus dem rollenden Sarg". www.spiegel.de (in German). No. 24 January 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
- ^ Sollinger, Daniel (June 22, 2020). "Immortality or Bust: The Trailblazing Transhumanist Movie". Singularity Weblog.
- ^ Wood, David (January 25, 2019). "To make a dent in the universe". dw2. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
- ^ Horgan, John. "Turned off by Trump and Clinton? Vote for a Transhumanist for President!". Scientific American Blog Network. No. 4 August 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
- ^ Hidell, Alek (October 14, 2016). "The Anoncast - Episode 17 - Zoltan Istvan Transhumanist Candidate for President of the United States". AnonHQ. Retrieved August 17, 2021.