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Sundance filmmakers Laura Dunn and Jef Sewell present ALL ILLUSIONS MUST BE BROKEN, a cinematic contemporization of the work of American cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker, whose book THE DENIAL OF DEATH won the Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction in 1974.

Becker’s interdisciplinary exploration of human nature and his own personal testimony challenge us to move beyond our fears and see the beauty that surrounds our fragile lives.

ALL ILLUSIONS MUST BE BROKEN uses Becker’s brilliantly conceived framework to explore the consequences of denaturing children’s formative years. His ideas help to show how replacing our given natural environment with a virtual one only furthers our tendencies toward self-deception. Part film essay, part verité study, the narrative interleaves Becker’s profound insights, contemporary interviews on the screen’s re-patterning power, and scenes from boyhood and our rapidly unraveling relationship to nature.

DIRECTED & PRODUCED BY
LAURA DUNN & JEF SEWELL

PRODUCED BY
OWSLEY BROWN

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
TERRENCE MALICK
ROBERT REDFORD
NICK OFFERMAN
NELDA BUCKMAN

ERNEST BECKER

“One marks one’s passage on earth by leaving behind something that heightens life and testifies to the worthwhileness of his existence.

The peculiar characteristic of man is that he’s an animal that has to do something about his ephemerality… When it comes to being heroic, it lies in that realm. The idea of overcoming, of standing out, of saying,

‘You see? I’ve made a contribution to life. I’ve advanced life, I’ve BEAT death.’ ”

Cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker was a self-described synthetic thinker who explored well beyond his own discipline and devoted his entire intellectual career to asking the question, “Why do people do what they do?”

Drawing from Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology, Philosophy, Theology, and more, he arrived at this simple conclusion: People do what they do unknowingly and do so to avoid confronting the truth, namely that they are mortal animals destined to die.

Following Becker’s interdisciplinary lead, we strive to gather people together to watch ALL ILLUSIONS MUST BE BROKEN, a film that prompts deep reflection and conversation.

We hope this shared, in-person experience also builds bridges of understanding across academic disciplines that foster both empathy and imagination.