Video Interview, Larry Champoux, November 1, 2012
- KEVIN INDOVINO: (unintelligible) This is the tough question.
- How do you want your name to be spelled out on screen?
- First and last name. (unintelligible)
- first and last name.
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: Let's do Larry, L-A-R-R-Y, Champoux,
- C-H-A-M-P-O-U-X.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: So first thing we're
- going to talk about, because you talked about
- with Evelyn earlier is, is the gay rights
- movement and the arts, it seemed to me, particularly
- at the crux of the whole AIDS crisis
- where we were really out there.
- The whole gay rights movement kind
- of (unintelligible) the whole AIDS awareness movement.
- But we were also then getting attacked
- from all different directions.
- And you come from the many experiences,
- you were with the Pyramid Arts Center at the time.
- And we know of that whole Piss on Christ thing,
- the controversy that that created.
- Can you just talk to me briefly a little bit
- about how even the arts were being attacked,
- in regards LGBT issues, and that kind of thing.
- CREW: Someone's phone is on.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Someone's phone is on?
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: Oh, maybe.
- CREW: (unintelligible)
- KEVIN INDOVINO: (unintelligible)
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: One of the things
- that I think is really interesting about the 1980s
- in terms of arts and art activism
- is that when the AIDS crisis hit it required the gay community
- to respond in some really unique and creative ways.
- And when ACT UP started it was comprised
- of a great many individuals from a community
- and a great many artists.
- And political activism at that time
- sort of merged with performance art.
- When you look at some of the actions
- that ACT UP took in the streets and in the cities
- across America, it was a very creative movement.
- So throughout the 1980s, I think that the gay community
- began to be infused with a political activism
- and a creativity.
- And that political activism and creativity
- crossed over into arts organizations at that time.
- Many of whom began to develop supportive mechanisms
- for gay and lesbian artists because they were under attack.
- And because they recognized that there
- was something important creative happening here in this crisis.
- At that time, I worked at an organization,
- Pyramid Arts Center which is now Rochester Contemporary.
- And we were an artist space in a multi art center what
- that means is primarily we developed programs and support
- services for a wide range of artists.
- OK.
- I'm going to pick you back up where you started with.
- Don't worry about the camera.
- Just talk to me.
- OK.
- At that time I was the executive and artistic director
- of Pyramid Art Center and we were an artist space which
- means we develop programs in support of artists
- and we are multi arts organization, which
- meant that we had programs in a wide range of disciplines
- from theater and performance art, music, dance
- as well as the whole range of visual arts.
- And it was a great time.
- It was exciting.
- There was an explosion of creativity coming out
- of the East Village in New York and there
- was an emergence of performance art in ways that
- had never been seen before.
- And the hybridization of art forms
- was a time for lots of invention.
- And we were fortunate that we had mechanisms
- at the New York State Council in the Arts
- and the National Endowment for the Arts
- that was supportive of this Avant-Garde experimental
- components in our culture and also supportive
- of lesbian and gay artists.
- and diverse artists.
- There were funding mechanisms in place in support of that.
- So at Pyramid Arts Center we were
- able to secure a lot of that funding
- and I worked as a panelist at New York state
- Council on the Arts and a consultant
- for a few other programs there and also
- a consultant for the National Endowment for the Arts
- to develop a regrind programs for diverse artists.
- So it was exciting to be in this mix and what opportunity that
- provided for our community was we were able to bring
- a lot of these artists into Rochester,
- Artists' like Holly Hughes, lesbian theater
- artist, and Karen Finley, not a lesbian herself, but sort
- of a hero of the gay movement out
- of East Village at that time.
- And provide supportive mechanisms for these artists
- as well.
- We presented the early work of Todd Haynes
- early in his career.
- And even other wonderful groups like Blue Man Group,
- we presented early on.
- So it's an exciting time in our space there
- and we had crowds of people that came in.
- Unfortunately not everyone viewed this experimentation
- with the same enthusiasm that we did.
- In the beginning in the late 1980s,
- there began to be a backlash.
- Senator D'Amato of New York state
- ripped up a catalog that contained Andre Serrano's work,
- an infamous piece called Piss Christ,
- which has gone on to be hugely misinterpreted
- for political purposes.
- And following up on that began to be
- attacks from Jesse Helms regarding funding for lesbian
- and gay artists and others associated with experimental
- and Avant Garde art.
- People like Holly Hughes, and Karen Finley, Tim Miller,
- John flack were de-funded.
- This created the need for all of us
- within this artist's space movement in the United States
- to organize around what can we do to stop this.
- We believed that these artists deserved
- to have their viewpoints known and that their work should not
- be censored.
- So it became a crisis of censorship
- within the lesbian and gay community
- starting in the late 1980s and proceeding into the 1990s.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: So at some point, you and a couple
- other people came up with an Idea
- to confront censorship within the gay and lesbian art
- community.
- Correct me if I'm wrong, but that
- led into what became pink flamingos and (unintelligible).
- Can you kind of walk me through that a little bit.
- What was your reaction to this attack and the idea that
- came out of that?
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: There are a few values
- I think that we have within the lesbian and gay community that
- are unique to our community because we love our country.
- We love our communities.
- We love our families.
- But I think one of the values that we
- have is a commitment to self-sufficiency
- within our community.
- We've been attacked for centuries.
- And our response to that has been
- to organize however we could to be supportive of each other.
- So looking at how to respond to this issue of censorship,
- in my own mind I'm thinking somehow we
- have to develop programs that make use of that.
- We had seen that throughout the AIDS crisis
- as our community came forward in support of itself
- when no one else was there.
- When we did not have medical treatments, when we did not
- have politicians backing us up, when there was not
- money flowing for research or medicine,
- we supported each other and organized
- around that to change the environment
- and to change policies.
- So looking at the crisis in censorship
- it seems like there are similar mechanisms that
- could be put in place for that.
- Within Pyramid Arts Center we had small lesbian and gay film
- festivals of various kinds and had
- had dialogues about lesbian and gay film
- festival in a larger community.
- It was a movement that was probably really only about
- five years old at that time.
- I don't think there's many film festivals of its sort
- that are more than a generation old now.
- And an opportunity for that arose when a couple of women
- named Lee Andrews and Martha Leonard came up
- with a wonderful idea to develop a convention for lesbian, gay,
- transgender, and bisexual people who live in our community.
- Sort of a multi purpose convention and conference
- with workshops and great entertainments with some
- of the top performers within our community at that time
- like the Flirtations and I think Chris Williamson was there.
- Martha Leonard was on our board at Pyramid Art Center
- and she and Lee approached me about organizing a film
- festival for as a test in a sense for Pink Flamingos
- and Purple Hearts conference.
- And this seemed like a good opportunity
- because it was funded.
- They were going to pay Pyramid Art Center to produce this.
- And so the funding was in place for it
- and it allowed us to move forward with plans
- that we had wanted to initiate and it
- seemed like we would have an audience built in for it.
- The staff at an art center and myself
- developed a film festival for this conference.
- It was a small film festival.
- Maybe I think maybe a dozen films set up just
- in a room with a 16 millimeter projector
- and I think with some video equipment
- with chairs set up and promoted it at the conference
- and had a wonderful response at the conference.
- And it was such that we used it as a sort of focus group
- essentially.
- Because after each film, we would talk about the film
- and with audiences we would also talk
- about the possibility of creating a film
- festival within our community.
- How could that work?
- Would you go to it?
- What would you think would be barriers
- to getting people to go to it?
- Because the audience was not huge for it and so
- it was manageable to have these sorts of discussions
- about how a film festival could begin to function
- within our community.
- And it was great fun.
- I mean, people couldn't make it to one screening,
- so we just set the camera back up again at 11 o'clock
- and showed films again as late as people
- wanted to stay there and just show them over and over again.
- It was pretty casual but very effective.
- And so that became the first reckoning
- of that we could, in fact do a film festival in our community.
- We figured that this was a possibility, that there
- were ways to figure it out, and people were ready for it
- and they were interested in it.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: So eventually this idea
- really moved into --what was it-- the political caucus?
- Kind of under their umbrella?
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: At that point I left Pyramid Art Center
- and had the opportunity and the time
- to devote to development of the film festival.
- And began pretty much that became the central focus
- of what I did.
- I had been on the board at the Gay Alliance of the Yangtze
- Valley at that time and I was also
- Vise President at the Rochester Lesbian and Gay Political
- Caucus, which is sort of a local predecessor to the Empire State
- Pride agenda.
- So I approached the gay alliance about the possibility
- of being a sponsor of the festival
- so that funding could be, there was a conduit for funding
- to happen.
- And also because I was affiliated
- with the political caucus approached them
- about also co-sponsoring the film festival.
- So the first movement in the film festival
- is under the auspices of GAGV with some co-sponsorship
- from the political caucus.
- And there was skepticism.
- It's like any sort of new idea.
- So I really had to do my marketing and selling
- for people to see that this was a possibility.
- And had to ensure that it would not be a fiscal drain on either
- of those organizations, which was very important from the
- get go.
- So I had to present a mechanism for actually
- how this could financially work with earned and unearned
- income, how I could survive from ticket sales
- and from grant money.
- Because I had been a panelist at New York State
- Council and the Arts, I understood
- the funding mechanisms that worked there and early on we
- had support from New York State Council and the Arts.
- They knew me they understood that I
- had the skills to do this.
- So fortunately we had that support early on,
- which meant a great deal in terms
- of giving the film festival credibility at that time.
- So I, through the gay alliance, began
- to do calls for volunteers to organize around us
- and this was a new project, a new organization.
- The only thing we had some semblance that this could work,
- but we had a lot of energy within our community.
- What we had here that makes our community so special I think
- is we have a long history of strong volunteerism.
- Again based on our self-sufficiency
- within our community to be strong.
- And we had come through and we're
- still in the AIDS HIV crisis at that time
- and had learned a great deal about organizing
- on a large scale moving our community,
- not just in a small way but in a big way politically.
- Plus we had begun to be more politically organized
- in conventional ways to support for openly gay politicians.
- And so we had grown a great deal at that point which
- helped to the early organizing of the festival
- to attract some really talented folks.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: So tell me, let's
- just jump ahead over here.
- Tell me about the first festival.
- What was it like?
- What are your most fondest memories
- of that first Image Out?
- Was even called Image Out yet, was it?
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: No.
- Early on the film festival was called
- the Rochester Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival,
- later changed to Image Out.
- My strongest memories of the first film festival
- was the overwhelming audiences that showed up for it.
- And anyone that has been to the film festival
- sees how great it is when the theater is full.
- But in that first year, we had one of the smaller theaters
- at the little and we had people sitting in the aisles even,
- it was so full.
- We were putting them in and we were like, I don't know.
- What about the fire marshals?
- And it was like there are controversy over them.
- What do we do?
- There's so many people here and we don't
- have enough seats for them.
- And it was like at that point, let's risk it.
- It's important that we all stuff in here together to experience
- this together and that added to the excitement of it
- and the enthusiasm of it.
- And I think early on was an indication
- of the community's love for culture, and for each other.
- It was a wonderful feeling to see all these people there
- and was extremely exciting for us and was a success.
- And we made money for the alliance
- and made money for the political caucus.
- And to give a sense of what it was
- like at that time, the city of Rochester
- was working towards trying to develop domestic denish benefit
- partners.
- To give you a sense of what was happening
- in the community at that time, the gay community
- was working with the city to develop domestic partnership
- benefits for employees of the City of Rochester.
- It was very controversial and took a great deal of convincing
- of city council to go along with this
- and we weren't sure what was going to happen.
- But some of the money that was used for that
- was film festival profits used for educational purposes
- to promote the concept of the value of domestic partnership
- benefits.
- And we did succeed in getting domestic partnership benefits
- for the city of Rochester.
- So there was a whole lot of really exciting things going
- on at that time and sort of a dynamic overlap of how
- these things all came together.
- So it was a benefit of good timing and good people
- early on that help make it successful.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah, you just talked about something
- that I want to explore a little bit more here.
- Bringing people together for an artistic and cultural event
- or activity, but still then tying that
- into some sort of activism and, again,
- using the arts and culture and using
- that as a vehicle to then get legislation
- passed or bring more awareness about gay and lesbian issues.
- Thoughts on that?
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: Well given that our community was under attack
- in the 1980s and early 1990s, regarding our own culture
- and we were facing censorship of our own culture,
- it became imperative for gays and lesbians around the country
- and in our own community to develop programs
- where they took control of their own culture
- so that it would be relatively safe from these attacks
- on our culture, and would be free of censorship
- as best as possible.
- That self-sufficiency has allowed the film festival
- to present a wide range of important topics
- to our community.
- The film festival has educated our community
- about marriage, diversity, gender issues, women's issues,
- children's issues, educational issues, all of which
- have political and social components.
- And so the film festival serves not just as an entertainment
- vehicle, but a means for our community
- to stay on top of what's happening locally, nationally,
- and internationally.
- Which is, to me, one of the most important components
- right now is the international component to the film festival
- because there are so many dramatic issues
- facing our brothers and sisters around the world
- that are largely invisible to us unless we take time
- to learn about that.
- And the film festival helps to make sure that that happens.
- So culture and activism have really always probably
- been connected.
- But for us, it's intrinsic to our lives
- right now that we need to maintain that activism
- and maintain that cultural activism in order
- to ensure that we aren't cast back into the shadows again.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: So looking back at 20 years of ImageOut-- this
- is kind of a two part question.
- As a founding father of this festival, question A,
- why do you think it's been so successful for 20 years?
- And then adding to that, what are you most proud of,
- in regards to what you did to get it started?
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: I look towards--
- I need to start again.
- There's a lot of confusion about our community.
- And we have been under attack for so many years
- and have had so many misconceptions relayed
- about who we are and what we do.
- We have been conveyed as evil and bad influences
- and have been denied rights of association, rights to speak,
- rights to marry, for so many years
- that the film festival, within our own community,
- brings to light I think what is really
- essential about our entire movement
- is that it's not really about sexuality.
- Our movement really is about our capabilities and freedom
- to love each other, to love our families,
- to be respected at our jobs, to respect each other,
- and to live in a environment where
- children can grow up in that same spirit of love
- and acceptance.
- It's a movement-- really, when you
- look beyond the politics of it, and when
- you look beyond the movements of it and the activism of it,
- it's a movement founded in our love
- for each other and our desire to ensure we have that freedom
- to do that in the future.
- So when we come together in the film festival,
- I think we all know that when we're sitting in the audiences
- and we're watching films and we're all together.
- I think we know, really, what the movement is about.
- And that's why we love it so much when we sit there,
- because we know in that environment
- we have the freedom to love each other any way that we want to.
- And so when I look back at 20 years of the film festival,
- to me that's what is most striking about that.
- And that after the funding is done
- and the ticket sales are collected
- and all of the hard work the volunteers
- have put forward and that--
- for one more year we've all gotten together
- to prove that one point one more time
- and to express that to each other, to our community,
- and to the world.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: So let me ask you this.
- From where it began to where it is now,
- in those initial stages of putting this film festival
- together, in 1990, 1992, '93, whenever it was--
- did you ever imagine that, one, it would still
- be here 20 years later but two, that it
- would reach the heights that it has reached,
- and reach the recognition that it has reached internationally?
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: I think that one of the major reasons the film
- festival has been successful is that it
- has been, in many ways, a festival without a figurehead.
- It has been a festival of our community.
- It's been a festival of the volunteers.
- It's been a festival of the audiences.
- It's not been a festival of a hero,
- or the big museum director, or the big boss.
- It's the film festival that is about all
- of us that come together around it.
- And that is essentially what has made
- it survive and be successful, because we
- know we're all doing it.
- Everybody is doing it, contributing money,
- buying tickets, helping at the feeder, helping promote it,
- seeing films.
- All of that work is done by everybody in our community.
- And so we all end up with an ownership over that.
- And I think 20 years ago, I knew that was in our community
- because I had seen that same spirit grow so strongly as we
- fought to keep our community healthy during the AIDS
- crisis in the early years.
- But I don't think I knew that it would
- grow to be this wonderful event that it has become today.
- I was thinking in the moment, let's do it right now.
- This is what we have to accomplish right now
- and let's see what happens with it.
- So it is gratifying to see that it is still here.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Let's switch gears.
- Let's talk politics a little bit.
- Talk to me a little bit about the Rochester Gay and Lesbian
- Political Caucus.
- What was it?
- More importantly, what was the mission behind it?
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: The Rochester Lesbian and Gay Political
- Caucus was an organization that was largely
- an early predecessor to what we call the Empire State Pride
- Agenda.
- And I think the Pride Agenda has supplanted the work
- that the Political Caucus use to do.
- But it was a local organization designed to support and educate
- and politically influence candidates for office, locally.
- And it was, statewide, as I recall, probably one
- of the most successful of those sorts of organizations
- around the state, which is why I think
- we have always had a strong representation also
- at the Pride Agenda.
- It's because early on, we had some good strong political
- organizing,
- And so I'm not the expert on the origins of the Political
- Caucus, but it was extremely valuable
- and allowed us to begin to develop
- our own strong political base.
- Like Bill Pritchard was an early--
- he was president of the Political Caucus
- when I was there.
- And Don Belack and Tim Maines and Sue Cowell.
- And so a lot of the political powerhouses in our community
- worked their way through their lesbian
- and gay political caucus as I recall, as I remember that.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Talk to me about, you
- know, we were in this period like, say, well,
- from 1969 on, maybe even a little bit before that.
- But you know, basically with the Stonewall event.
- And we started to become a more visible community
- but we were visible, you know, marching
- in parades and picketing outside the city
- halls and that kind of thing.
- But at some point, the gears switched a little bit.
- At some point, the gay community realized
- it's not enough to just be marching outside of city hall.
- That we have to get face time with political candidates.
- We have to get in line and support
- political candidates who were going
- to support us as a community.
- Can you talk to me a little bit about that?
- Because to me, that seems to be kind
- of the crux of where something like the Rochester Gay
- and Lesbian Political Caucus came out of.
- That there was this realization that we
- need actually one on one time with these politicals.
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: Yeah, I can speak about that some.
- In 1993 there was organized a march on Washington
- the 1993 march on Washington.
- I went to it.
- Several other folks affiliated with the film festival
- went to it.
- I went down with Scott McCartney who was, as he continues to be,
- a valuable volunteer for the film festival.
- And at that time, there were controversies over,
- what are we going to do as a community nationally?
- And there were components that wanted
- us to organize nationally and have
- a strong national presence.
- There was another track that said no.
- We're all coming in here to Washington
- and we're going to have fun and RuPaul is going to entertain us
- and we're going to all feel great here and it's a big party
- and it's political.
- But no, you're going to go back to your communities now.
- It's, don't think up here about the national issues.
- Go back home and work in your towns and your cities
- and organize there and influence your politicians locally
- and develop programs at your homes
- and develop organizations in support
- of your own communities.
- So it was fascinating because really it was like, OK,
- come to Washington and go home and do your hard work.
- And the film festival benefited from that
- because this is precisely what the film festival was about.
- It was going home and developing a program
- that would educate and motivate within our own community.
- Associated with that movement, which I think was powerful
- and I think was under the leadership
- of Urvashi Vaid, who was the head of the National Lesbian
- and Gay Task Force at that time.
- But it was a powerful movement to go back
- to our own communities and organize there.
- And out of that, we actually were
- able to have greater political influence locally.
- In our own community we've seen that dramatically,
- but in communities across the country.
- Now, I think that that thrust has pushed us forward
- for a generation and has helped where
- we have been able to achieve marriage
- equality in certain states.
- It has all been based on that localization of our efforts
- to bring about that change, with a parallel level
- to influence things nationally where you see
- repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell.
- By that localization of our efforts is important.
- That only was able to come about because of a demographic change
- within our community.
- After Stonewall, people began to realize
- they did not have to move away from where they grew up
- in order to begin to have an influence
- or to change their lives.
- As a gay person or a lesbian person,
- you didn't have to move to New York anymore.
- You didn't have to move to San Francisco.
- You didn't have to move to a big city
- in order to find the community where you belonged.
- After Stonewall, you began to be able to find that community
- where you lived, where you grew up, where your family may still
- have lived.
- And so that sort of demographic change within our own community
- was really important because we were no longer isolated
- within pockets anymore.
- We were everywhere.
- And we are everywhere.
- And we always have been everywhere.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Well, speaking about the community
- again and working locally, when you look at a city
- the size of Rochester, you've got a Gay Alliance
- Organization.
- We have a film festival.
- We have political caucuses.
- We have 30 or 40 different gay organizations
- listed in The Empty Closet.
- What is it about Rochester that allows all that to happen here?
- Because no other community is like this.
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: In Rochester, we're
- fortunate to have pretty rich history of support
- for diversity.
- Much of the time it's used purely
- for advertising purposes.
- We're the home of Susan b Anthony.
- We're the home of Frederick Douglass.
- Where the home of religious revivalism and diversity.
- But for our community, it means something.
- That is our local history, that diversity.
- Our own movement within the LGBT community
- is an outgrowth of the work that had
- been done by women in the suffrage movement,
- and the work that Frederick Douglass did.
- We're the beneficiaries of that work,
- though we do not always support that diversity as strongly
- as we need to these days.
- I mean, we have been able to grow because those
- are early models of our community
- that have been presented to us.
- So our community has a rich history of diversity
- that has allowed us to develop our own programs.
- We're fortunate in many ways because we
- have enough economic vitality that we can do this.
- And we're fortunate in that way.
- What's important is that we remember
- that our origins within our community
- are based upon diversity, women's movement, the movement
- of African-Americans to gain dignity, the respect, the vote.
- And we really need to pay that back as well.
- And we need to honor the diversity
- within our own community in order
- to continue that legacy forward.
- The film festival helps to do that.
- But we always need to be reminded of that also.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Well, and that brings up
- an interesting question that, it hasn't always
- been a bed of roses and it will never be a bed of roses.
- There's been some significant challenges
- that we've had to face from year to year.
- Being who we are as a community here in Rochester,
- we do face those challenges and we do win the battles.
- Your thoughts on regards to, where do we go from here?
- OK, we've got marriage equality in New York state.
- Rochester helped in a big part of getting that passed.
- What are the challenges ahead?
- Where do we go from here?
- What do we need to be looking at from this point on?
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: This is an exciting era
- to be alive in if you are a lesbian, gay, bisexual,
- or transgendered person.
- We have seen a period of a change in world history--
- not just our community's history, but a change in world
- history.
- And we've had success after success after success.
- And we're winning these battles.
- But all of that needs to be taken with a bit of caution
- because we're still in a very tenuous position.
- We still face significant challenges.
- Marriage equality we have in New York state
- and we got that by a very slim margin.
- And we have to remember that.
- And we're in an election year.
- And we face significant barriers to a conservative movement
- that would roll back any of these rights and privileges
- that we currently enjoy.
- And our biggest challenge isn't these conservative attacks
- on our lives, or our being.
- Our biggest challenge going forward
- is our own complacency and sense of satisfaction
- that we have achieved what we want to achieve
- and turning our backs on our need to be cautious, and aware,
- and active, and moving forward on behalf
- of our own community and other communities
- facing similar discrimination.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Let me just look at my stuff here.
- See if I put this down here--
- I think we did.
- I'm just going to throw these names at you.
- Just quick thoughts about these people
- that you've worked with particularly with the festival.
- Give me your quick thoughts on Jamie and Sally Whitbeck.
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: Jamie and Sally Whitbeck
- have been remarkable addition to the film festival.
- And it's hard to imagine that it could not have a Jamie
- and Sally Whitbeck.
- It's hard to imagine that the film festival could not exist
- without these two great folks.
- Concurrent to when I was working on this film festival early on,
- Jamie was working on a similar film festival.
- And as the story goes, I was sitting
- in the offices of The Little Theater arranging
- for screenings of the first film festival to happen there
- and Jamie happened to call up Bill Coppard who
- was the owner of the theater at that time
- to talk to him about the film festival that he wanted to do.
- And Bill Coppard said, well, Larry Champoux
- is sitting right here and handed the phone over to me.
- And Jamie and I began to have a contact there about well,
- should we do one festival or two festivals?
- And Jamie came on board and has been a wonderful contributor
- ever since, as well as his great wife Sally.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Interesting perspective, though,
- that it was Jamie and Sally who were not gay.
- They were married husband and wife.
- They don't have gay children.
- But yet here they are, getting involved with gay lives.
- Here they are getting involved with the gay film festival.
- And I want to say, I don't even know how to ask this,
- but was there any point where you were taken back by that--
- or skeptical of that?
- I mean, knowing these two people as I do,
- it's hard to be skeptical of them.
- But did it surprise you at all that,
- particularly in those old days in the 1990s that,
- here's this straight white couple coming to our
- (unintelligible).
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: One of the great things about the film festival,
- from its early days and it continues to this day,
- is it's open door.
- You want to volunteer?
- Come on in.
- We'll find some place for you to volunteer.
- And that open door is incredibly important.
- And when Jamie and Sally got involved,
- that was just the door open further.
- And to ensure anybody could come in and help us out.
- And we've had them, through the years, a lot of straight film
- lovers who have been involved and other folks who
- have come to the films because they're interested in it
- from the cinematic perspective.
- So I wasn't taken aback by that.
- I was grateful for any help that wanted to come in
- and was extremely grateful for the enthusiasm
- that they brought to the festival
- early on, which was really encouraging.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: David Emert, big part
- of getting the jump up and running.
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: David Emert early on was--
- starting out in the film festival,
- I was sort of a driver.
- I bring the ideas in.
- I'm a marketer.
- I'm an advertise.
- I try and bring people around together.
- And David Emert and Susan Soleil had organizational skills
- that I didn't have That was sorely needed within the film
- festival.
- So their early involvement was immensely
- helpful toward ensuring that it had logistical success.
- And that it could happen without a hitch,
- that it ran as smoothly as it could.
- And their lessons in that early on I
- think continue to this day.
- I think some of the flawlessness that the festival
- has this day, this sort of flawless execution
- that the film festival enjoys, is largely due to Susan Soleil
- and David Emert's administration of it,
- and administrative design of it.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: I need a quick soundbite from you
- that helps me set this up.
- Something in the line of, early on two key people
- that really helped me (unintelligible)
- success were David Emert and Susan Soleil.
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: OK, OK.
- Early on in the film festival, there
- are some individuals whose help and experience and knowledge
- and enthusiasm made the film festival successful.
- Two those individuals, Susan Soleil and David Emert,
- who brought administrative know how to the film festival.
- And to this day, I think some of the flawless execution
- that the film festival enjoys is because of the groundwork
- that those two individuals did.
- And the pride we take in terms of how well organized
- and how well oiled a machine it is,
- is because of the hard work of those two folks.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: (unintelligible) In the early days of the film
- festival, trying to get audiences to a film festival,
- there was risk for a lot of those people showing up
- to those movies.
- There was a risk of being exposed.
- Not so much today.
- I think today it's almost a sense of, this is who I am
- and I'm taking pride in going to this film festival.
- But was there any sense of that in the early days about trying
- to get those theatres filled with people who may not be
- completely comfortable being out and associated with a gay
- event?
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: I think the film festival happened
- at a cusp of movement within our community.
- There was a time previous to the film festival
- when it was very risky for us to associate with each other,
- to be exposed as part of our community.
- But I think the film festival is an indication of sort
- of the sea change that we underwent in the 1980s
- and into the 1990s, where we stepped out publicly,
- not only within our own community but publicly.
- And the film festival itself was and is a very public display
- of our lives also.
- We are not only getting together to enjoy these films
- but we are broadcasting the stories of our lives
- to our entire community.
- And so the film festival was part of and was at the moment,
- I think, when we fully wanted our stories to be told.
- So we weren't fearful of that.
- We thought we need to be courageous
- on all levels of this.
- Our stories are valuable.
- Our stories need to be told.
- Your stories are valuable.
- My stories are valuable.
- And our community needs to learn about these.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: In the same notion of risk,
- was there any risk in say, the film festival
- becoming too political, in regards to legalities
- of a non-profit organization can become too political or being
- looked at as a political lobbying effort
- or anything like that.
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: The film festival early on
- walked a fine line between culture and activism.
- And it's never overtly activist.
- It is largely, and has always been, mostly educational.
- And that educational component of it
- has been a very important survival mechanism for it
- as well, because we're educating our own community,
- we are educating our larger community, even
- when those subjects are very difficult and controversial,
- even when they're not just politically
- controversial but perhaps even in terms of the imagery
- and the aesthetic notions of it, and when
- they may depict images of sexuality
- that people are not comfortable with.
- But part of the purpose of culture
- is to shed light in dark areas.
- And that more than in other ways,
- that's important for our lives since we have
- had to come out of the shadows.
- So that openness is really important
- because we don't know what is going
- to be the controversial subject matter next year.
- We don't know who's going to object to something the year
- after next.
- So the film festival has always had to proceed forward,
- even from its early days with, we
- know some people are not going to like this
- but we need to move forward with a sense of pride in who we are.
- And we don't have to, even as individuals,
- accept everything that's on the screen,
- agree with every story that is told,
- but use those stories as benchmarks for our own lives
- no matter who you are.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: One question just because it comes to mind.
- I usually have this question for everybody.
- How do you want history to reflect
- upon Larry Champoux, as regards to who he is
- and what he's done?
- That's a tough question.
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: Yeah.
- I never really thought about that.
- I would want-- looking back on the film festival, what
- I hope most people would remember from that,
- or my involvement with it, or any of the volunteers
- involvement with it is that it was happy and fun.
- I want people to remember the joyfulness of being together
- and how exciting that is and how great
- it is for us all to have opportunities
- to get together and enjoy each other and our lives
- in this beautiful media of film and video,
- and to embrace that and exult in that joy.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Can I ask the same question?
- Because I don't think we want to just focus on ImageOut.
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: OK.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: You did more than just ImageOut.
- I mean, you were with--
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: OK, OK.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Political caucus--
- and you're doing things even today.
- What do you want history to know in regards
- to your contributions for the gay and lesbian community,
- looking back?
- LARRY CHAMPOUX: If I'm looking at my own life and look
- at how my own life has impacted the film festival
- or other work I've done in the community
- or in cultural organizations, it's
- that largely I've just dared to go do it.
- You know, step outside of my comfort zone
- and stick my neck out and embarrass myself
- and make new friends and experience new things.
- And that I dared to try and change my community,
- hopefully for the better in some way.
- So I'm a risk taker.
- And I know that some people have not
- responded to that well but most people I get abundant love back
- from that.
- So to me, that's what I think I hopefully have contributed
- to my community here.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: OK, all right.
- Let me get this microphone off of you.