Queer Artist Logan Lynn Reflects on ‘Incredibly Meaningful’ Boise Screening of Award-Winning Documentary
Twenty years into Logan Lynn’s career as an artist and activist, the Portland resident trekked to Boise last week to screen his increasingly feted documentary The Pain and the Power. Presented by rock band Portugal. The Man’s KNIK Records’ PortuGAY Division, the film is touted as “a personal portrait tracing a 30-year career forged at the intersection of queerness, faith, addiction, trauma and self-reinvention.”
The NC-17 trailer for the doc makes clear its controversial subject matter, brash tone and unfiltered account of an artist gone wild:
Logan Lynn showed the movie to a well-attended crowd at the Egyptian Theater in downtown Boise on Wednesday. He communicated with The Bad Penny after the event.
“Bringing The Pain and the Power to Boise felt incredibly meaningful,” he said. “I lived in Idaho for a chapter of my life, parts of the film were shot here, and these stories about queer life, addiction, recovery, and survival exist everywhere, regardless of how a state votes. In places where LGBTQ+ people can often feel politically and socially isolated, gathering in a room together to see our lives reflected on screen can be a powerful reminder that we are still here, that we belong here, and that our stories matter as much as anyone else’s.
Lynn continued: “Independent cinema has always created space for stories and communities that the mainstream might tend to overlook, and what Idaho Film Society is building in Boise is a beautiful example of why those spaces are so essential. They’re creating a home for filmmakers, audiences and stories that might otherwise never find each other. Getting to bring this film back to a place that is actually part of its story, and then have an open conversation with the audience afterward, was a really special way to begin this screenings tour.”
Check out these additional clips in which Lynn speaks about The Pain and the Power:
The Bad Penny (beta) 
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