Logan Lynn Had to Watch
30 Years of His Life Back. Apparently, It Was a Lot!
30 Years of His Life Back. Apparently, It Was a Lot!
Three decades of music, sixteen years of addiction, eighteen years of recovery, and enough archival footage to turn all of it into a feature-length documentary.
The Pain and the Power gave Logan Lynn the slightly terrifying opportunity to meet almost every previous version of himself at once.
Over nearly three decades, Logan Lynn has accumulated what most of us would simply call a past. In his case, there also happened to be cameras around for a lot of it. Home movies, old music videos, tour footage, photographs and years of archival material now form the backbone of The Pain and the Power, a new documentary directed by Cai Indermaur that traces Lynn’s life from a fundamentalist Christian childhood through queerness, music, addiction, public collapse, recovery and everything that came after.
For the new episode of OTO Originals: Logan Lynn Speaks, we talked to Lynn about what it feels like to watch your own life back, why some former versions of yourself don't get any easier to face with time, why music has always been his way of saying the things he’s too afraid to say out loud, and what happens when you manage to seriously fuck up your life — and then discover that life, inconveniently enough, keeps going.
Making a film about 30 years of your own life sounds interesting right up until somebody makes you watch those 30 years back. For Lynn, that meant confronting footage from his sixteen years in active addiction alongside versions of himself he admits he had never really looked at before. More than eighteen years into recovery, he doesn't frame what follows as the obligatory fall-apart-then-find-yourself story.
“It’s not an excuse. It’s not a redemption arc,” he tells us. Which already makes it considerably more interesting than most redemption arcs.
For the new episode of OTO Originals: Logan Lynn Speaks, we talked to Lynn about what it feels like to watch your own life back, why some former versions of yourself don't get any easier to face with time, why music has always been his way of saying the things he’s too afraid to say out loud, and what happens when you manage to seriously fuck up your life — and then discover that life, inconveniently enough, keeps going.
Also making an appearance: Pretty Baby and Barbara Cheeseburger, whom Logan considers his co-stars in The Pain and the Power. Given how enthusiastically they insert themselves into the conversation, we see no reason to question their billing!
WATCH NOW:
One film apparently wasn't enough
The documentary comes with its own musical counterpart. On September 4, Lynn released The Pain and the Power, the film’s original motion picture soundtrack, presented by PortuGAY, the LGBTQ+ imprint of Portugal. The Man’s KNIK Records.
Calling it a soundtrack is almost misleading. Lynn describes the film and album as “two sides of the same coin,” and the songs aren't particularly interested in sitting politely underneath the pictures. They deal with the same material: loss, forgiveness, childhood faith, relationships, identity and the uncomfortable realization that holding onto something isn't automatically evidence of strength.
The record features collaborations with Kyle Andrews, Brian Fortson of Classtronaut and Dale Hiscock of Endless Atlas. Alongside the album, Lynn also released the focus track “A Billion Dollars” with a new visualizer.
Listen / watch “A Billion Dollars”
Listen to The Pain and the Power
Watch the official film trailer
The documentary comes with its own musical counterpart. On September 4, Lynn released The Pain and the Power, the film’s original motion picture soundtrack, presented by PortuGAY, the LGBTQ+ imprint of Portugal. The Man’s KNIK Records.
Calling it a soundtrack is almost misleading. Lynn describes the film and album as “two sides of the same coin,” and the songs aren't particularly interested in sitting politely underneath the pictures. They deal with the same material: loss, forgiveness, childhood faith, relationships, identity and the uncomfortable realization that holding onto something isn't automatically evidence of strength.
The record features collaborations with Kyle Andrews, Brian Fortson of Classtronaut and Dale Hiscock of Endless Atlas. Alongside the album, Lynn also released the focus track “A Billion Dollars” with a new visualizer.
Listen / watch “A Billion Dollars”
Listen to The Pain and the Power
Watch the official film trailer
The film has been keeping busy too
While Lynn was busy processing the surreal experience of seeing decades of his life condensed into 107 minutes — mercifully cut down from an original five-and-a-half-hour version — The Pain and the Power developed a fairly impressive life of its own.
The documentary has already picked up Best Documentary at the Global Visionaries Film Festival and London Independent Film Awards, Best Documentary Feature Film at the Golden Lion International Film Festival and Best Debut Documentary at the Athens International Monthly Art Film Festival. It has also received LGBTQ+ awards, while Indermaur has picked up first-time director recognition in Berlin and Portugal.
In other words, Lynn’s past now has its own international travel schedule.
The film continues its festival run through 2026 and into 2027, with confirmed appearances including:
September 25, 2026 — Seward, Nebraska
Flatwater Film Festival — Official Selection
October 17, 2026 — Sandpoint, Idaho
Sandpoint Idaho Film Fest — Official Selection / Nominee: Love Out Loud Award
November 19, 2026 — Cuiabá, Brazil
Mt Queer Premia 2026 — Official Selection
December 14, 2026 — Oslo, Norway
Director’s Cut International Film Festival — Official Selection / Nominee: Best Documentary Feature
February 21, 2027 — Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
LGBTQ Unbordered International Film Festival
March 14, 2027 — Bali, Indonesia
4th Dimension Independent Film Festival — Official Selection / Nominee: Best Documentary Film
Before that, Logan is taking the film on the road
This September, The Pain and the Power is also getting a more personal series of advance screenings across Oregon, Washington and Idaho. The dates coincide with National Recovery Month and National Suicide Prevention Month — and, for once, the connection goes considerably deeper than a convenient spot on the marketing calendar.
Addiction, mental health and survival aren't supporting themes in Lynn’s story. They're part of its structure. The film deliberately avoids treating recovery as the bit where everything becomes inspirational and the credits roll. As Logan tells us in the interview: “I would have stayed high forever if I could have.” More than eighteen years later, the choice remains active: “I still have to choose life every day.”
Each September screening includes an in-person appearance from Lynn and a post-film Q&A:
September 9 — Boise, Idaho
Idaho Film Society
September 11 — Bend, Oregon
Tin Pan Theater
September 12 — Portland, Oregon
Clinton Street Theater
Q&A moderated by author and mental health advocate Sheila Hamilton
September 13 — Seattle, Washington
SIFF Film Center
Q&A moderated by DJ and recovery advocate Marco Collins
September 15 — Spokane, Washington
Magic Lantern on Main
September 17 — Baker City, Oregon
Churchill Baker
September 18 — Eugene, Oregon
Art House
All screening dates + tickets here
For all the awards, screenings and frequent-flyer miles, the most interesting part of The Pain and the Power is still considerably less polished. At one point in our conversation, Lynn reduces almost three decades of complicated biography to a sentence: “Just really fucking up your life and then putting a new life back together.”
Not quite the inspirational quote you'd put over a sunset.
Probably a more useful one.
While Lynn was busy processing the surreal experience of seeing decades of his life condensed into 107 minutes — mercifully cut down from an original five-and-a-half-hour version — The Pain and the Power developed a fairly impressive life of its own.
The documentary has already picked up Best Documentary at the Global Visionaries Film Festival and London Independent Film Awards, Best Documentary Feature Film at the Golden Lion International Film Festival and Best Debut Documentary at the Athens International Monthly Art Film Festival. It has also received LGBTQ+ awards, while Indermaur has picked up first-time director recognition in Berlin and Portugal.
In other words, Lynn’s past now has its own international travel schedule.
The film continues its festival run through 2026 and into 2027, with confirmed appearances including:
September 25, 2026 — Seward, Nebraska
Flatwater Film Festival — Official Selection
October 17, 2026 — Sandpoint, Idaho
Sandpoint Idaho Film Fest — Official Selection / Nominee: Love Out Loud Award
November 19, 2026 — Cuiabá, Brazil
Mt Queer Premia 2026 — Official Selection
December 14, 2026 — Oslo, Norway
Director’s Cut International Film Festival — Official Selection / Nominee: Best Documentary Feature
February 21, 2027 — Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
LGBTQ Unbordered International Film Festival
March 14, 2027 — Bali, Indonesia
4th Dimension Independent Film Festival — Official Selection / Nominee: Best Documentary Film
Before that, Logan is taking the film on the road
This September, The Pain and the Power is also getting a more personal series of advance screenings across Oregon, Washington and Idaho. The dates coincide with National Recovery Month and National Suicide Prevention Month — and, for once, the connection goes considerably deeper than a convenient spot on the marketing calendar.
Addiction, mental health and survival aren't supporting themes in Lynn’s story. They're part of its structure. The film deliberately avoids treating recovery as the bit where everything becomes inspirational and the credits roll. As Logan tells us in the interview: “I would have stayed high forever if I could have.” More than eighteen years later, the choice remains active: “I still have to choose life every day.”
Each September screening includes an in-person appearance from Lynn and a post-film Q&A:
September 9 — Boise, Idaho
Idaho Film Society
September 11 — Bend, Oregon
Tin Pan Theater
September 12 — Portland, Oregon
Clinton Street Theater
Q&A moderated by author and mental health advocate Sheila Hamilton
September 13 — Seattle, Washington
SIFF Film Center
Q&A moderated by DJ and recovery advocate Marco Collins
September 15 — Spokane, Washington
Magic Lantern on Main
September 17 — Baker City, Oregon
Churchill Baker
September 18 — Eugene, Oregon
Art House
All screening dates + tickets here
For all the awards, screenings and frequent-flyer miles, the most interesting part of The Pain and the Power is still considerably less polished. At one point in our conversation, Lynn reduces almost three decades of complicated biography to a sentence: “Just really fucking up your life and then putting a new life back together.”
Not quite the inspirational quote you'd put over a sunset.
Probably a more useful one.
