John Cooper is a man in the middle.

As programming director of the Sundance Film Festival, he's determined to make the 25th-anniversary version of Robert Redford's event a success and defend the filmmakers whose movies will be screened in Park City next month. That means having to ride out a threatened boycott against the festival, called by gay activists targeting Utah because of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' support of California's Proposition 8, a ban on same-sex marriage.

But Prop. 8 is not just a political issue for Cooper. As the gay newsmagazine The Advocate reported last month, Cooper and his partner of 19 years got married just before election day -- making him one of thousands of California gay and lesbian residents left in limbo about the validity of their legal marriages.

Cooper told me last week Sundance has not tried not to react to the boycott calls, which have largely subsided since the initial anger over Prop. 8's passage. "I got a lot of mail from other festivals and filmmakers who said this was pretty ridiculous," Cooper said.

Sundance's response has been to let filmmakers make the case for the festival's long record of supporting gay films. Sundance is where Todd Kalin's "Swoon," Todd Haynes' "Poison," Rose Troche's "Go Fish" and many other landmark movies in queer cinema first screened for an audience.

"I do remember four years ago, when someone from GLAAD [the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination] called and asked if we played any gay movies," Cooper said. "I said, 'I know you're young, but you really need to do some research before you call me.' I pretty much said [we played] every one, except 'Philadelphia.' And we never showed 'Will and Grace' at the festival."

More problematic than a vague boycott against all things Utah is a more specific target: The Cinemark theater chain, whose CEO Alan Stock -- a devout Mormon raised in Roy, Utah -- donated $9,999 to the Yes on 8 campaign. Activists have called for a boycott of all Cinemark theaters, including the Holiday Village fourplex where Sundance plays more than 150 screenings.

Festival director Geoffrey Gilmore told The New York Times last week that any movie playing at the Holiday Village will also screen at another theater -- so those who want to honor a Cinemark boycott won't miss any films.

What's important, Cooper said, is Sundance gives filmmakers their day in the sun. "I'm not going to go in and damage this festival -- or more importantly damage an experience a filmmaker might have -- for talk of boycott," he said.

Sean P. Means writes the Culture Vulture in daily blog form at blogs.sltrib.com/vulture.