Andrew Gingerich

Filmmaker/Educator

About

Andrew Gin­gerich is a film­mak­er whose work explores notions of fam­i­ly, dis­so­ci­at­ed iden­ti­ties, region­al alle­giances, and the bound­aries of fic­tion. He lives and teach­es in Michi­gan’s Upper Peninsula.

FALLCASTER

  • 7 min­utes – HD Video – Color
  • My role: Writer/​Director/​Cinematographer/​Editor

A young woman is trou­bled by dreams of a life that isn’t hers.

If I try to seize this self of which I feel sure, if I try to define and sum­ma­rize it, it is noth­ing but water slip­ping through my fin­gers. This very heart which is mine will for­ev­er remain inde­fin­able to me. For ever shall I be a stranger to myself.

Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus

Director’s statement

I made this film as a sort of study for some Big Ideas I’ve been chew­ing over in my work recent­ly: dis­so­ci­at­ed iden­ti­ties, the insta­bil­i­ty of our con­cept of self, and the ways in which we might inhab­it (and be inhab­it­ed by) oth­er peo­ple. I think the piece func­tions on its own, but it’s also my first attempt at work­ing with some of these themes in oth­er contexts.

The film fea­tures Isabelle Rashkin as the unnamed pro­tag­o­nist, and is heav­i­ly influ­enced by the den­si­ty, excess, and obscu­ri­ty of ear­ly Peter Green­away films.

Call to Forehead

  • 1 minute
  • 16mm
  • Col­or
  • My role: Co-Direc­tor/Cin­e­matog­ra­pher/Ed­i­tor
"Call to Forehead" poster

A short film in the style of a ’70s thriller trailer.

A mys­te­ri­ous, malev­o­lent fore­head from the sev­enth dimen­sion is wreak­ing hav­oc on the lives of inno­cents. It can make phone calls, and move lamps with its mind. Even if you escape, you will NEVER! be the same.

Director’s statement

I have a great fond­ness for the sorts of trashy thrillers I used to see adver­tised at the begin­nings of heav­i­ly-worn Block­buster video­cas­settes. Call to Fore­head, made in col­lab­o­ra­tion with Vin­cent Gag­ne­pain, was our homage to these cheap­ly-made, over­wrought genre movies.

In order to best emu­late the par­tic­u­lar tex­ture of such trail­ers, we shot on 16mm film. Our graph­ics were designed using only tech­niques that would have been cheap­ly avail­able at the time, and incor­po­rat­ed the dis­tinc­tive jit­ter of a low-qual­i­ty opti­cal print­er. The final edit was rout­ed through a peri­od VCR to intro­duce a soupçon of ana­log smearing.

Higher Purpose

  • 13 min­utes
  • 16mm/​Analog video
  • Color/B&W
  • My role: Writer/​Director/​Editor

When thir­teen mem­bers of the mys­te­ri­ous High­er Pur­pose Group are found dead, police turn to Broth­er Adam, the sole sur­viv­ing mem­ber of the group, for answers.

On March 15, 1996, 13 mem­bers of a cult known as the High­er Pur­pose Group were found dead, hav­ing engaged in a mass sui­cide. Many of the deceased had been poi­soned, but sev­en had been smoth­ered. Amidst the dead was found Adam Booth, 26, who was tak­en into cus­tody by police and com­mit­ted sui­cide in his jail cell lat­er that day.

We will per­haps nev­er know why Booth did not imme­di­ate­ly take his own life, nor why he chose to com­mit sui­cide after being detained. One thing, how­ev­er, is cer­tain: he did not regret his actions, and he con­duct­ed him­self with an air of qui­et but stead­fast conviction. 

Credits

A short film by Andrew Gingerich

Starring

  • Lan­dyn Banx
  • Jim West­cott
  • Nicole Kreux
  • Anne West­cott
  • Dan Quaile

with

  • Park­er Cagle-Smith
  • Con­nie Newville
  • Mar­garet Feldman
  • Steve Wothe
  • Jayde Delano

Featured cult members

  • Scar­let Salem
  • Don­na Longson
  • Lau­ri Mueller
  • Matt Fran­ta
  • Ami­ty Carlson
  • Direc­tor of Pho­tog­ra­phy: Kathryn Criston
  • Gaffer: Matt Kane
  • Sec­ond Unit Direc­tor: Ethan Holbrook
  • Sec­ond Unit Direc­tor of Pho­tog­ra­phy: Park­er Cagle-Smith
  • Asso­ciate Pro­duc­er: Lan­dyn Banx
  • Spe­cial Thanks: First Chris­t­ian Church – Min­neapo­lis, Minnesota