Remembering Nancy Andrews

The Ann Arbor Film Festival remembers and celebrates the life and remarkable creative legacy of filmmaker and longtime AAFF alumna Nancy Andrews, who passed away on July 11, 2026, at the age of 64.

For nearly three decades, Nancy Andrews was a part of the Ann Arbor Film Festival community. Her work first came to AAFF in 1996 with Woods Marm, beginning a relationship with the festival that continued across generations of filmmakers, audiences, and programmers. Over the years, she returned to AAFF with a remarkable range of films, including Hedwig Page, Seaside Librarian (1998), The Reach of an Arm (2002), Monkeys and Lumps (2003), She Had Some Work Done (2005), and On a Phantom Limb (2009).

Nancy's films occupied a wonderfully unconventional space between animation, documentary, storytelling, puppetry, and experimental cinema. Her work was populated by curious characters, strange worlds, handmade objects, and imaginative narratives, often blurring the boundaries between the real and the fantastical. Her distinctive approach to filmmaking reflected a deep curiosity about the possibilities of the moving image.

Her connection to AAFF extended beyond her own films. In 2003, Nancy served as a juror for the 41st Ann Arbor Film Festival, contributing her perspective and experience to the process of recognizing and celebrating experimental filmmakers.

Nancy continued to create and collaborate throughout her career. In 2021, she returned to AAFF with I Like Tomorrow, made with filmmaker Jennifer Reeder. 

At the Ann Arbor Film Festival, we are grateful to have been part of Nancy's long artistic journey. Her films challenged expectations, invited audiences into unexpected worlds, and embodied the adventurous spirit of experimental cinema that AAFF has championed for more than six decades.

We are honored to remember her work and her lasting contribution to experimental filmmaking.