Filmmaker Brian Lindstrom dies at 65

Brian Lindstrom, the Portland documentary filmmaker whose work centered people pushed to the margins, died on May 15 at age 65, according to reports published Friday. The Los Angeles Times obituary said Lindstrom was known for documentaries about underdogs and overlooked communities. Oregon outlets and entertainment trade reports said his wife, author Cheryl Strayed, announced his death publicly that morning. Cheryl Strayed said in a public post on May 15 that Lindstrom had died that morning. OregonLive reported that Strayed wrote he died “with gentleness and courage,” and other reports said his family had disclosed only weeks earlier that he was facing a fatal illness. ### Which films made Brian Lindstrom known beyond Portland? Brian Lindstrom’s best-known films included “Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse,” a 2013 documentary about the death of a Portland man with schizophrenia after a police encounter. (latimes.com) IMDb lists Lindstrom as the film’s director and writer, and describes the film as examining how Chasse’s life and death changed the city. IMDb also lists Lindstrom as director of the 2015 short documentary “Mothering Inside” and as co-director of “Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill,” released in 2022. (oregonlive.com) Those credits match the portrait in obituary coverage of a filmmaker who returned repeatedly to stories about mental illness, incarceration and people on the edge of public life. ### What kind of subjects did he choose? The Los Angeles Times said Lindstrom built a career on documentaries about society’s underdogs. (imdb.com) Oregon coverage described him as one of the state’s most respected documentary filmmakers and said his work focused on people often ignored or stigmatized. OregonLive’s earlier coverage of “Alien Boy” said Lindstrom used the James Chasse case to spotlight the treatment of people with mental illness. (imdb.com) That reporting helps explain why his films were often tied not just to individual biographies, but to institutions including police, jails and social-service systems. ### What did Cheryl Strayed say about his death? Cheryl Strayed, the author of “Wild,” announced Lindstrom’s death on May 15 and mourned him in public posts cited by multiple outlets. (latimes.com) OregonLive and other reports said she described his final hours in personal terms and wrote about the effect of his death on their family. IMDb says Lindstrom and Strayed had two children. (oregonlive.com) Earlier OregonLive coverage also identified the couple as collaborators as well as spouses, reporting in 2015 that they were writing an HBO series adaptation tied to Strayed’s work. ### What illness was reported before he died? Progressive supranuclear palsy was identified in several reports as the illness Lindstrom had been battling before his death. The Hollywood Reporter and Oregon ArtsWatch both said he died after a battle with the rare neurological disease, while OregonLive reported in late April that Strayed had revealed he had a fatal illness. (oregonlive.com) (imdb.com) The timing was short. Yahoo’s entertainment report said Lindstrom’s death came about two weeks after Strayed publicly disclosed the diagnosis. ### Where can readers find the clearest record of his career now? The Los Angeles Times obituary published on May 15 gives the broadest recent account of Lindstrom’s life and work. Film databases including IMDb list his directing and producing credits, while Oregon outlets including OregonLive and Oregon ArtsWatch have published local reporting and remembrances since Friday. (hollywoodreporter.com) May 15 now stands as the key date in the public record: Strayed announced his death that morning, the Los Angeles Times published its obituary the same day, and follow-up coverage continued on May 16. (yahoo.com) (oregonlive.com) (latimes.com)