TICKETS $15

Doors 3:30 p.m.; Film 4 p.m.

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THE EXPERIENCE

Come join us for a screening followed by a Q&A with the film’s director and producer. Outliers and Outlaws premiered to a sold out audience at the QDoc festival in November 2024, followed by a sold out run of screenings at Cinema 21 in December.

ON SCREEN: Outliers and Outlaws

2024. Directed by Courtney Hermann. Runtime: 65 minutes. 

A story of lesbian world-builders, Outliers and Outlaws uncovers the fabulous history of a large and vibrant lesbian community in Eugene, Oregon. Women who migrated to this small town in the 1960s-80s candidly share stories about the power of courageous and creative world-building. Intimate portraits—both then and now—model living in hard times with hope, humor, and commitment to social change. Narrated by musician Jody Bleyle, Outliers includes a rich archive of images documenting this groundbreaking community.

This film works to address the erasure of LGBTQ history, fostering intergenerational conversations about marginalized identities and cultural heritage. It offers visibility for LGBTQ elders who often feel isolated and unseen, as well as for younger generations unaware of their community’s rich history beyond tragic narratives. 

The film has a run time of 65 minutes. This program is presented as part of Outliers and Outlaws: Stories from the Eugene Lesbian Oral History Project. 

Director and cinematographer Courtney Hermann (she/they) is a documentary filmmaker with decades of experience making short and feature-length documentary films. They are co-author of Directing the Documentary and associate professor of film at Portland State University. Hermann’s feature documentaries include Standing Silent Nation, Exotic World and the Burlesque Revival, Crying Earth Rise Up, and Outliers and Outlaws. Their short films include There’s Heart Here and Burton Before and After. Hermann co-created The Eugene Lesbian History Project’s interactive exhibition, highlighting the cultural and historical significance of the lesbian community in Eugene, Oregon from the 1960s to the early 2000s.

Judith Raiskin (she/they) co-created The Eugene Lesbian Oral History Project, a multi-platform public history project about the community of lesbians in Eugene, Oregon from the 1960s-90s. From 83 oral history interviews and a robust archival collection, Professor Raiskin co-created an interactive digital exhibition and a physical museum exhibition which was installed for a year at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History in Eugene and is currently on view at the Oregon Jewish Museum & Center for Holocaust Education. They also produced the accompanying documentary, Outliers and Outlaws. As a Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Oregon, Judith teaches courses in the fields of disability studies, LGBTQ history and culture, literature, and archival research. They are the faculty director of the LGBTQ+ Scholars Residential Academic Community, a unique community and service to LGBTQ+ students on the University of Oregon campus which she helped found. Professor Raiskin has received numerous awards for her work related to The Eugene Lesbian History Project including grants from the Oregon Cultural Trust.

Note: We do not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, and films exhibited don’t necessarily reflect the views of PAM CUT, the Tomorrow Theater, or the Portland Art Museum. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on sites like Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com.