February 09, 2018

Brian Lindstrom ’84

2017
Distinguished Alumnus Award
Meet Brian in this video!

Brian’s award-winning films reduce stigma and reveal the humanity of people living on the
margins. His recent film, Mothering Inside, helped inspire the Oregon Legislature to fund the Family Preservation Project and to make Oregon the first state in the U.S. to pass a bill of rights for children of incarcerated parents. Last year, he was awarded the Media Arts Fellowship by Portland’s Regional Arts & Culture Council.

The first in his family to go to college, Brian Lindstrom put himself through school with student loans, work-study, scholarships, and by working eight summers in a salmon cannery in Alaska. His award-winning films reduce stigma and reveal the humanity of people living on the margins. Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse explores police accountability in the brutal death of a non-violent man with schizophrenia. Finding Normal follows longtime heroin and crack addicts trying to rebuild their lives with the help of recovery mentors. Mothering Inside focuses on the Family Preservation Project at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, Oregon, which helps inmate mothers develop and maintain loving relationships with their children. The film helped inspire the Oregon legislature to fund the Family Preservation Project and to make Oregon the first state in the U.S. to pass a bill of rights for the children of incarcerated parents.

Last year, Brian received the Civil Liberties Award from the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon for his work advancing civil rights and liberties. He has also received the Media Arts Fellowship from the Regional Arts & Culture Council in Portland, which helped to fund his current documentary on the marathon at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn. Brian is making a documentary on the late singer/songwriter Judee Sill and is collaborating with his wife, Cheryl Strayed, on a pilot for a television series on HBO.