Thank you to everyone who made the Completed Life Initiative Film Festival such a success–from three incredible films, to insightful Q&As with directors and advocates, to making connections across the Completed Life community, to honoring Lynda S. Bluestein with the first ever Completed Life Initiative Pioneer Award!
Congratulations to Lynda S. Bluestein,
the first recipient of the
Completed Life Initiative Pioneer Award!
Ms. Bluestein was presented with this award at the Completed Life Initiative Film Festival in NYC. To hear Ms. Bluestein tell her own story, listen to her on the VOICES OF THE COMPLETED LIFE podcast via the links below.
“The Story of Lynda Shannon Bluestein”
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/44oBTiN
Apple: https://apple.co/45pG7rG
YouTube: https://bit.ly/3YKEnXz
Spreaker: https://bit.ly/3qJ16q
The Completed Life Initiative Film Festival is not your ordinary film event. Our selection of award-winning and nominated feature films and documentaries – Moon Manor, Jack Has a Plan, and Last Flight Home – raises profound questions: How does learning the art of living teach us the art of dying? How can our mortality inspire us to live without fear and pursue happiness? How can love guide us to make end-of-life choices with family members?
Today is Jimmy’s last day alive. He has advancing Alzheimer’s, so he’s decided to die like he has lived – with intention, humor, and zest. On his last day on Earth, he’ll show an obituary writer, his death doula, his estranged brother, his caretaker, a surreal being, and the guests at his fabulous FUN-eral, that perhaps the art of living is actually the art of dying.
When Jack Tuller, a man with a terminal brain tumor for 25 years, decides to end his life, his family and friends struggle to accept his decision. Jack’s best friend documents his three-year quest to die a happy man, culminating in a permanent going-away party.
Behind a white picket fence, on an unremarkable suburban street, we discover Eli Timoner, who founded Air Florida, the fastest-growing airline in the world in the 1970’s. During his final days, we discover his extraordinary life filled with incredible success and devastating setbacks, and most importantly, an innate goodness that won him the enduring love and support of his family. Through stunning verité footage recorded by his middle child, Last Flight Home takes audiences on a heart-wrenching ride through Timoner’s life, illustrating a modern-day success story built on the power of human connection.
Award-winning director, Ondi Timoner, joined us on stage after Last Flight Home for a Q&A. Two receptions provided opportunities to meet the filmmakers and to chat, connect, and share insights about these challenging and life-affirming films.
Ondi Timoner is an internationally acclaimed filmmaker who has the rare distinction of winning the U.S. Grand Jury Prize at Sundance twice. Her most personal film, Last Flight Home, about her father Eli Timoner’s extraordinary life and intentional death, premiered at Sundance & Telluride in 2022, winning Best Documentary at Woodstock and Dallas Int’l FF, and the Critics Award at Key West FF before making the Shortlist for the 95th Academy Awards. Ondi was recently awarded the prestigious Visionary Award for Documentary Excellence at DOC NYC and the Impact Award at Hamptons DocFest.
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