j u s t o u t T S e p te m b e r 6 . 1 9 9 6 ▼ 2 9
A C hange of R oles
Producer Christine Vachon talks about getting Stonewall made
and carrying on after the death of director Nigel Finch
▼
by Matthew Cibellis
ou think it’s always harder to cast the
drag roles, right? Wasn’t it Nathan
Lane saying just a few months ago
that he didn’t want to get typecast as
a drag performer? Not so, says Stone­
wall producer Christine Vachon, “Every actor in
New York wanted to audition for La Miranda
[Stonewall's lead character]. It was the straight-
acting/straight-appearing roles that were impos­
sible to cast. It must be easier to hide behind the
nentially more complicated when the director
dies, but then Vachon had never planned for this.
Composed, articulate and informed, this
ground-breaking filmmaker who produced such
new queer cinema fare as Poison, Swoon and Go
Fish has been busy finding financing for films
since 1983 when she formed Apparatus Films
with di rector Todd Haynes (Superstar: The Karen
Carpenter Story, Poison, Safe) after they had
graduated from Brown University together.
“I think Todd is a real visionary,” says Vachon.
“He makes films which are so ahead of their time. I
think Safe is a landmark, a classic film which 10 to
15 years from now will be recognized as such. I hope
to always work with him. I think a good producer
won’t let a good director get away from him.”
And Vachon tries to only work with the best.
With Gus Van Sant, she co-produced the contro­
versial Larry Clark film Kids, as well as the recent
independent success by Mary Harron, ¡Shot Andy
Warhol. Presently working on a debut feature
with avant garde photographer Cindy Sherman in
the director’s chair, Vachon cultivates talent
around her. So when British director Nigel Finch
approached her in 1993 with his plan to make a
Y
inema
makeup, the high heels, the dresses.”
Vachon and I met at Filmfest DC, which
premiered Stonewall in the Washington, D.C.,
area. These festivals aren’t a holiday for Vachon.
With 45 minutes for this interview, she had sev­
eral other journalists to talk to before dinner,
which was slated for 6:30 pm. Then there was the
post-screening Q and A at 9:30 pm and the trip
back to New York. A producer’s life gets expo­
Frederick Weller (center) as Matty Dean stands amid the Stonewall riot
Sometimes your future
really is determined
film of the book Stonewall by
M artin D uberm an, she
wanted to make sure he had
what it would take.
“Nigel was the guy who
commissioned for and di­
rected a well-known British
BBC television program
called Arena. They rein­
vented the documentary; they
produced Paris is Burning
without taking the credit for Guillermo Diaz works magic as La Miranda
it. They were revolutionary. But the only work of
see the definitive gay rights movie, this isn’t it.
Nigel’s I’d ever seen was The Lost Language o f
“Personally, I think it’s a hard movie not to
Cranes, which I hated. I thought it was a really
like,” effuses Vachon. “For all its flaws—and you
flat, dull and uncinematic film.”
can criticize its flaws— it’s got a lot of heart.... I
But Finch persisted. He approached the BBC
think the weaknesses are far outweighed by the
with a draft script of Stonewall by a West Indian
sheer exuberance of it.”
aerobics instructor friend of his, Rikki Beadle-
Most of the flaws probably stem from the fact
Blair. The BBC was horrified by the choice of
that the director wasn’t there to complete the film.
scriptwriter, but took Finch up on the idea if they
Nigel Finch died halfway through the post-pro­
could appoint the writer. The result was another
duction editing process.
dull, lifeless creation which Vachon would have
“I thought Stonewall would be one of many
nothing to do with.
films Nigel and I would make together. He was
“Nigel went back to the BBC and pleaded with
healthy throughout the filming, but he became
them to let Rikki try
sick after we went into edit. The editing equip­
it,” recalls Vachon.
ment was moved into his home so he could be a
“Nigel and Rikki came
part of the process as long as he could.”
back with a fresh script
Finch died on Feb. 14 , 1995, before he saw the
in three weeks, and
final product. Vachon, film editor John Richards
that’s the script we
and executive producer Anthony Wall finished
shot.”
the film, which seems to support Vachon’s belief
For Vachon, Stone­
that “all films are a collaborative process.”
wall was a major de­
As someone who has always seen herself as a
parture from her more
filmmaker—a term usually reserved for directors
avant garde works like
only— Vachon has had to take on more of the
Safe and Poison.
familiar trappings that that role entails: traveling
“One thing I used
to promote the film, editing the hours and hours of
to say to Nigel is that
film, speaking to audiences about the film. She
it was the most con­
prefers to acknowledge the cooperative efforts
ventional film I’dever
that go into creating a picture.
made,” says Vachon,
“I don’t work well with film school graduates.
laughing richly. “That
Film school students have such inflated images of
used to dri ve hi m nuts.
their own genius,” confesses Vachon. “Directors
But in essence, it’s a
need to commandeer the confidence to get an
romantic comedy—
entire crew behind them. So few' film school
one starrin g drag j students realize you can be a filmmaker without
queens— but funda­
being the director.”
mentally a romantic
Vachon lives by her word nowadays. As she
comedy at its core.”
leaves for her next interview, she hikes her black
And that’s been the
leather jacket over her broad shoulders—shoul­
primary criticism of
ders that carry the weight of a vision, a film and a
S to n ew a ll— that it
legacy that Nigel Finch hoped would outlive him.
isn't really about the
legendary event. It’s a
Stonewall opens Sept. 13 fo r a two-week run at
relationship picture.
Cinema 21, 616 NW 21st Ave. Call 223-4515
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