Brian Lindstrom
Directing
Biography
Brian Lindstrom (February 12, 1961 – May 15, 2026) was an American documentary filmmaker whose work focussed on addiction, incarceration, mental illness and police brutality.
Known For

Eliza D'Amico thinks her marriage to Louis is going great until she finds a mysterious love note to her husband. Concerned, she goes to her mother for advice. Eliza, her parents, her sister Jo, and Jo's boyfriend all pile into the station wagon and go to the city to confront Louis with the letter. On the way, the five explore their relations with each other and meet many interesting people.
The Daytrippers
David Atkins is a once successful writer-director who has left his family in New York and moved out to Los Angeles in hopes of kick-starting his professional life back on track. Following a request from his teenage neighbor, Gwen to film him for a high school class project, David begrudgingly allows her to expand the project into an internet series which she believes will not only be popular, but will also help revitalize his career. Gradually though, and by no fault of his own, David begins to bumble his way up and slowly revive his career.
The Horrible Terrible Misadventures of David Atkins

The never-before-told story of folk-rock icon Judee Sill, who in just two years went from living in a car to appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone. The documentary charts her troubled adolescence through her meteoric rise in the music world and early tragic death. Featuring Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Fleet Foxes, David Geffen, and more.
Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill
Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse is a feature length documentary film about one mans struggle with schizophrenia and the extraordinary brutality that ended his life. It is the story of a city in denial that was forced to face the truth and learn, grow and change as a result. Alien Boy explores issues of impunity, police brutality, and mental illness.
Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse

Explores the fantasies of a young man obsessed with his ex-lover.
Haunted

An mad, unhinged chef and his futile attempts at killing a cockroach in a restaurant kitchen. This film takes its cues from the giant-insect films of the 50's such as "Them!" (1954) and a nod in the direction of Kafka's "Metamorphosis."
Dr. Ded Bug

Lindstrom’s powerful documentary takes an unflinching look at the daunting difficulties in overcoming addictions and the dynamic within Portland’s Central City Concern’s recovery mentor program. With a 70% success rate, the program’s strength lies in its ability to promote a strong sense of community and connectedness with peers and mentors, all former addicts committed to helping others as they help themselves. “The film is raw and real, filled with undeniable moments of pain and elation and human personality. It’s impossible to imagine a more honest look at this all-too-common world.”—Shawn Levy, The Oregonian.
Finding Normal
An adaptation of "Surprised by Joy" by Charles Baxter about a married couple struggling with a tragic loss.
Lucy's Room

What happens when a mother of small children is “put on a time out”? At Oregon’s Coffee Creek Women’s Prison, the Family Preservation Project (FPP) helps inmates hone their parenting skills as it facilitates regular family visits. While imprisonment is hard on both prisoners and their families, Mothering Inside demonstrates that not all is lost when the prison helps sustain the parent-child relationship. Shooting in a verité style, filmmaker Brian Lindstrom strives for unobtrusiveness as he records what he observes, uncovering the story along the way. Before our eyes, Lindstrom’s work morphs into a piece of advocacy. In the midst of filming, the Oregon Department of Corrections announced it would stop funding the FPP, and the viewer shares the heartbreak of the mothers suddenly faced with the prospect of losing their children all over again. (An end card notes that the program was rescued from the budget knife, but perhaps only temporarily.)
Mothering Inside
A documentary on the famous schoolyard basketball player Earl “The Goat” Manigault.