My Friend Dahmer

Acclaimed cartoonist John “Derf” Backderf joins us for this preview screening of My Friend Dahmer.  Adapted from John “Derf” Backderf’s award-winning graphic novel, the film recounts the increasingly troubled high school years of notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Shot in northeast Ohio (including scenes at Dahmer’s childhood home), it's both a remarkable re-creation of late-1970s teen culture and a nuanced portrait of an unbalanced life.

A graduate of Ohio State, Backderf is the creator of The City, a strip that ran for more than 20 years in alternative newspapers around the country. His graphic novels My Friend Dahmer (2012) and Trashed (2015) have been published in multiple languages around the world. Derf was Dahmer’s classmate at Revere High School in Richfield, Ohio. (107 mins., DCP)

Cosponsored by Ohio State’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum.

Other participating organizations in this year’s Cartoon Crossroads Columbus include Columbus College of Art & Design, Columbus Museum of Art, and Columbus Metropolitan Library.