Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse
2013, 90 minutes
How the death and life of James Chasse changed a city.
Director Brian Lindstrom employs interviews, archival footage, and videotaped depositions to tell the tragic story of James Chasse, and once promising artist from Portland, Oregon whose lifelong battle with schizophrenia was cut tragically short when he was brutalized to death by a group of local police officers. Despite the policemen's best attempts to convince witnesses that Chasse was a homeless drug dealer, those who had lived in the community for their entire lives knew the truth - that the man who died in police custody after suffering 16 broken ribs and a punctured lung was a troubled yet gentle soul who had likely committed no crime. An inspired writer, artist, and musician, Chasse had been an integral part of the Portland punk rock scene before the onset of severe schizophrenia. In the years that followed, Chasse waged a valiant struggle to live independently. Later, in the aftermath of Chasse's shocking death, his family hits a series of frustrating road blocks while fighting to hold the policeman who killed him accountable for their actions.