Grief Stick

Directed by Brian Padian. Runtime: 17:30 minutes. Produced by Alex Behr. Featuring poetry by Alex Behr. With support from Regional Arts and Culture Council.

A Northern Flicker Films/Dogwood Ink co-production

“A raw, honest portrait of love confronting mortality.”

— Mikel Fair, Dir., Film Festival Circuit

Synopsis

After 30 years, separated by time and circumstance, Portland poet Alex Behr reunites with her lost love Chris Hartman. Soon after reconnecting, Chris becomes ill with an accelerated, fatal disease. Grief Stick explores the contours of love and death, using photographs, poems, voicemails, and video to show the before/during/after of the illness and how it impacts them both.

Director's Statement

When I heard Alex Behr was looking for an editor for a film project about the illness that destroyed her partner Chris, I immediately offered to help. I didn't know Chris at all and Alex only socially, but the themes of sickness, body betrayal, and the sudden perspective shift due to transformative news resonated with me - I am a brain tumor survivor. I knew I could tune to the right frequency and not be daunted, but working on this film was still challenging for me and many days I had to give myself strict time-limits lest I be overwhelmed by the content. Alex provided me with a ton of material … so the obstacle for me was finding an engaging manner to shape it in a way that was true to the experience and to the poetry of the experience at once. Over the course of the project I came to know Alex better and Chris posthumously. Grief Stick was a very stirring project for me and I hope it will be for you as well.

Screenings — 2025

Nov 17

PSU’s English Department presents a screening of Grief Stick with Alex Behr and Brian Padian.

Nov 7

Up Up Books — Conversing with the Dead, Portland Book Fest’s Cover to Cover event with Jason Arias, Allisa Cherry, and Alex Behr — an evening of prose, poetry and film.

Oct 19

Turn! Turn! Turn! with Arch Cape and Mae Starr and Alex Behr — an evening of film, music and poetry

Feb 20

PAM Cut’s Tomorrow Theater —musician and Grief Stick music contributor Corrina Repp returns to Portland to serenade the Tomorrow Theater audience in a homecoming not to be missed. Following Corrina, writer, producer, and musician Alex Behr will read poems from her book Grief Stick, which she composed during her partner Chris’ illness. Brian Padian and Alex Behr will discuss the film with moderator Brian Lindstrom.

Jan 26

Clinton Street Theater — Oregon Documentary Film Festival

NOMINEE: Best Documentary Film