by Aaron Spencer
EDUCATION | TEACHER
Inspiring Maker
The Gift Of Struggle
The risqué subject of the documentary might have pushed the voting tal-
lies over the top. The film was about the revival of burlesque, which has
plenty of sex appeal and is a fairly popular pastime in the Pacific North-
west. The film is good in its own right, and it’s narrated by Margaret Cho,
which gives it some star appeal.
But she didn’t know she wanted to teach film until one day in 1992 in Char-
lottesville, Va. She was there for the Virginia Film Festival. Her professor
for her documentary film class sent her. She was 19, and she and some
friends filed into a cool theatre to watch the documentary “To Render a
Life” by Ross Spears.
But Courtney Hermann probably could have made a film about grass
growing and won. Hermann is an acclaimed Portland documentarian and
professor at the Art Institute of Portland. She was voted one of Hand-Eye
Supply’s Most Inspiring Makers, an honor given to Portlanders who make
things. She rode atop the supply store’s dazzling float in the Starlight Pa-
rade last month.
The film is about the ethics of making the documentary: how to portray
the lives of other people and the questions one grapples with in the cre-
ation process. All of that resonated with Hermann, but what sticks with
her is one scene.
“I’d like to say I got votes because of the project alone, but I think it was
students,” she says (we might find out next year if the work content actually
matters in voting – Hermann’s next film is about uranium mining).
Hermann, 40, has a philosophy about filmmaking that intersects with her
identity. She identifies as queer – she’s a woman, but she presents herself
with many masculine characteristics. Her queerness for a long time was a
source of struggle, something she says that all good documentaries need.
That struggle has helped her become the successful creator and teacher
she is today.
“I think the struggle is a gift,” Hermann says, “because you instantly have
this whole other relationship with the rest of humanity, where I think you
can more easily tap into the shared humanity of people who are different
from you.”
Hermann grew up in Baltimore with conservative parents – “old school,”
she calls them – Christian, but not the “you’re going to hell” variety. They
bought her baseball bats and footballs and were still surprised when she
came out of the closet at 22.
But shortly before that milestone, they bought her the only thing she ever
really begged for: a video camera. One of the first models for home use, it
recorded to VHS and cost $1,200.
“It struck me,” Hermann says. “It struck me with the humanity on display
and how much I felt like I was really moved by the strength and power
of this character. Those are the kinds of characters that interest me in my
own work – strong individuals persevering despite situations that are re-
ally difficult.”
Herman walked out of that theater knowing what she wanted to be when
she grew up.
Today, Hermann is a faculty member and assistant academic director of
the digital film and video department at the Art Institute, and she’s received
the faculty of the year award. Hermann feels that her androgynous sexual
identity has been more of an asset to her as a teacher than a detriment. As
she puts it, she feels like she can “be everything to everyone.” Women are
grateful to have a woman role model in a field dominated by men, and the
men see her as someone who is accessible and understands them.
“I feel in the final analysis, that being queer and a different gender some-
what, has actually improved my ability to relate,” she says.
Overall, Hermann says some of her proudest moments come when her
students access the power she’s learned to find within herself.
“That was a lot of money in the ‘80s,” Hermann said.
“The students really see, in some cases for the first time, they really, truly
understand how hard they can actually work,” she says, “so they get this
great sense of self empowerment and come out the other side of this really
tough and difficult experience feeling great strength and power. And it’s all
in service to this art form that I love – documentary.”
She enjoyed making home movies, but she knew she wanted to be a teach-
er. Her mom did it; so did her sister. It was in her blood.
Aaron Spencer, a regular contributor to Just out, is a professional writer and editor.
Reach him at aaron@JustOut.com
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JustOut.com
July 2012
Photo by Horace Long
Hermann is deserving of the seat: her films have won audience awards at
several film festivals and have appeared on PBS, among other prestigious
outlets. But she humbly credits her many current and former students in
town for the Maker title.
The film included the story of a family living in rural Virginia. They lived
in a trailer with no air conditioning and a wood-burning stove. In one
scene, the mother makes dinner for her family in a crowded kitchen in the
middle of the humid summer, sweat dripping from her brow.