Festival Season:
April 2026
THE DECISION
Directors:
Writers:
Brian Dunn
Producers:
Darryl Humphrey Ii, Alexis Wilson
Run Time:
0:42:12
Awarded for the following Category(s):
Awarded Category(s)
What would you give to save someone’s life?
The Decision is a raw and unforgettable documentary of Brian Dunn’s seven-year battle in his twenties and thirties against Stage 6 Lupus Nephritis, aHUS, kidney failure, and a series of life-threatening diagnoses that threatened not only his body, but his calling, his faith, and his new marriage.
As a young therapist and youth pastor, Brian was used to helping others survive their storms. But nothing could prepare him for hemodialysis, plasmapheresis, aggressive treatments, and the slow unraveling of his strength. Every doctor’s report grew darker. Every day required a choice: surrender or hope.
Then he lost consciousness.
When Brian went code blue, it seemed Lupus had won.
But when death knocked, love answered. In his darkest hour, a single decision changed everything.
The Decision is more than a medical film. It's a retelling from the perspectives of his family, his wife, and Brian himself on resilience, faith under fire, sacrificial love, and the life-altering power of one yes.
For anyone facing chronic illness, impossible odds, or their own midnight hour, this documentary is proof: survival is possible. Hope is a choice. And sometimes, one decision can rewrite the ending.
Submitter Statement
Brian Anthony Dunn is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and CEO/Founder of Real Therapy Center in Riverside, CA for the last five years and conducts emotional development sessions and workshops with former foster youth & homeless agencies, churches, and businesses. He is also an inspirational speaker who motivates students through topics of resiliency, mental wealth, and faith.
Diagnosed with a form of Lupus in his twenties, and for the next 7 years having battled Stage 6 Lupus Nephritis, Brian understands what it means to be resilient. He had to quickly learn to manage countless hospitalizations, kidney dialysis, and heart failure, while counseling and educating students amidst achieving his greatest goals of double masters degrees, becoming a licensed therapist and pastor, and getting married.
After nearly flatlining twice and receiving a kidney that resuscitated his life, Brian at the age of 33 continued his path of resilience and intentionality by starting a family, sharing his miraculous story, developing students, and providing psychotherapy while managing a new health diagnosis of Avascular Necrosis, the slow bone death of his leg joints.
Brian entered into fatherhood in 2022, and now has two boys, Kyrie and Romelo, with his beautiful wife Ebonnye of 9 years. His family gives him such fulfillment and joy. He chooses to be an active husband and dad despite presently navigating the chronic pain.
Nevertheless, he continues to literally walk by faith and inspire students, immunocompromised individuals, and young people alike to strive for their highest goals, accumulate mental wealth, and never let any condition, person, or mindset prevent them from being B.A.D. — brave, authentic, & dangerous.
Key Cast
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