Immortality or Bust

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]

Immortality or Bust
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDaniel Sollinger
Produced byDavid Kekich
StarringZoltan Istvan
Edited byQuinn Maloy Williams
Music byA. Jeffrey Jacobson
Release date
  • January 26, 2019 (2019-01-26) (Raw Science Film Festival)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

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

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
  1. Follows, Tracey. "Immortality Or Bust: Transhumanism In The White House". Forbes. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  2. Bickerton, James (28 June 2020). "New film follows US Presidential candidate who thinks humans can ABOLISH DEATH". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  3. "Immortality or Bust". IMDb. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  4. "2019 Festival". Raw Science Film Festival. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  5. "Immortality or Bust Documentary". Gravitas Ventures. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  6. "News – GeekFestToronto – February 12 – 14, 2021". Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  7. "Film: Immortality or Bust". Humanist Freedoms. 27 June 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  8. Smistad, John (2 July 2020). "Elucidating Eternal Life with "Immortality or Bust" (2020) Filmmaker Daniel Sollinger". The Movie Blog. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  9. Prisco, Giulio (24 January 2019). "Immortality or Bust: On the road to the future with Zoltan Istvan". Turing Church. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  10. says, Sophia (15 July 2020). "Immortality or Bust". Film Threat. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  11. "Immortality or Bust Trailer Politicizes Neolution". Den of Geek. 14 June 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  12. O'Connell, Mark (9 February 2017). "600 Miles in a Coffin-Shaped Bus, Campaigning Against Death Itself". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  13. Matthews, Dylan (8 September 2015). "Forget Donald Trump. Meet Zoltan Istvan, the only presidential candidate promising eternal". Vox. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  14. Elmo Keep; Nancy Borowick. "Meet the man who wants to be president, and then live forever". TheVerge.com. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  15. Bartlett, Jamie (23 December 2014). "Meet the Transhumanist Party: 'Want to live forever? Vote for me'". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  16. Medick, Veit. "Zoltan Istvan: US-Wahlkampf aus dem rollenden Sarg". www.spiegel.de (in German). No. 24 January 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  17. Sollinger, Daniel (22 June 2020). "Immortality or Bust: The Trailblazing Transhumanist Movie". Singularity Weblog.
  18. Wood, David (25 January 2019). "To make a dent in the universe". dw2. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  19. Horgan, John. "Turned off by Trump and Clinton? Vote for a Transhumanist for President!". Scientific American Blog Network. No. 4 August 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  20. Hidell, Alek (14 October 2016). "The Anoncast - Episode 17 - Zoltan Istvan Transhumanist Candidate for President of the United States". AnonHQ. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
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