February 18, 2013

Alumnus screens documentary at film festivals nationwide

Award-winning filmmaker Brian Lindstrom BA ’84 will premiere his newest documentary, Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse, in Portland in February. The feature-length film focuses on a man with schizophrenia who died after a run-in with police officers in September 2006.

Award-winning filmmaker Brian Lindstrom BA ’84 will premiere his newest documentary, Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse, in Portland in February. The feature-length film focuses on a man with schizophrenia who died after a run-in with police officers in September 2006.

The communication major has produced many short and feature-length documentaries, focusing primarily on addiction, mental disability, and at-risk youth. But Alien Boy, as his former professor and mentor Stuart Kaplan told the Oregonian, is “a major, major step up for Brian” and a serious move into investigative journalism.

While attending Lewis & Clark, Lindstrom’s passion for documentary filmmaking was sparked when Kaplan (now a professor emeritus of communication) introduced him to Edward R. Murrow’s 1960 documentary, Harvest of Shame, about the plight of American migrant farmworkers.

“Brian has always had a strong interest in social-justice kinds of subjects and in the use of film to illustrate the plight of people who are struggling,” Kaplan said.

Alien Boy premiered February 15 as part of the Portland International Film Festival, and will play again at Cinema 21 from February 24 to March 7, after which it will screen at film festivals across the country.