Policing Justice Film Series
This series of film screenings at Clinton Street Theater is part of Policing Justice, which is on view at PICA from February 23 – May 19, 2024.
Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse (2013)
Directed by: Brian Lindstrom
Produced by: Jason Renaud, Brian Lindstrom, and Andrew Saunderson
Cinematography: John Campbell
Edited by: Andrew Saunderson
Production Company: Mental Health Association of Portland
Distributed by: Breaking Glass Pictures
US, 90 minutes, 2013
A feature-length documentary film that chronicles one man’s struggle with schizophrenia and examines the actions of the police officers responsible for his death, exposing a city grappling with accountability in the death of an innocent, unarmed man.
On a summer afternoon in 2006, James Chasse was stopped by three law enforcement officers in Portland, Oregon. A dozen eyewitnesses watched in horror as they tackled, beat, kicked, and Taser'd James until he lay motionless on the pavement with 16 broken ribs and a punctured lung. He died in the back seat of a Portland Police car two hours later.
To look beyond the headlines and explanations, filmmaker Brian Lindstrom explores James’ childhood, his involvement in the early Portland punk music scene, the heart-breaking teenage onset of his schizophrenia, and his brave efforts to avoid institutionalization and maintain his independence.
Using interviews, personal writings, archival footage, official documents and videotaped depositions of the involved police officers, the film examines James Chasse's life and the police actions and decisions that led to his death. What emerges is an intimate and complex story of one man's life, the Chasse family’s struggle for justice, and a city and a system grappling with accountability.
Short: Just a Dog (2016)
Directed by: Andrea B. Scott
Featuring: K. Harris, Glen Harris, Jon Shoenhorn
US, 15 minutes, 2016
In a nation bristling with discontent over an increasingly militarized police force, JUST A DOG tells the story of the Harris family from Hartford, CT, whose pet dog, Seven, was unjustly killed by police on the family's private property.