Andrew Repasky McElhinney (born 1978) is an American film and theater director, writer and producer born in Philadelphia. McElhinney's cinema work is in the permanent collection of MoMA-The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Early life and education McElhinney holds degrees from The New School for Social Research (NYC) and The European Graduate School (EGS) in Switzerland.
In 2011, McElhinney defended his PhD dissertation, which was subsequently published by McFarland and Company as Second Takes: Remaking Film, Remaking America.
McElhinney teaches screenwriting, screen studies, and American Studies, and is an instructor at Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey.
Career In 1994, while in high school, McElhinney formed "ARM/Cinema 25", a company devoted to producing movies. That same year, he released the short films, The Scream and Her Father's Expectancy.
In 1995, McElhinney made A Maggot Tango. The original camera negative is in the permanent collection of MoMA-The Museum of Modern Art, New York, object number W23983.The Museum of Modern Art [New York]. "Andrew Repasky McElhinney. A Maggot Tango. 1995."
Feature films McElhinney's first feature film, Magdalen (1998), is about "a world-weary young woman who earns her living in a bar, telling stories to lonely people for money."Tobey, Carrie. "The Young and The Restless: Philly filmmaker Andrew Repasky McElhinney", The Philadelphia Weekly, December 16, 1998, pg. 60. The Philadelphia Weekly wrote, "Smith's presence on-screen is fascinating, unromantic and tough. The film itself unravels languidly, with stylish, moody black-and-white photography from local cinematographer Abe Holtz." The original camera negative is in the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art.The Museum of Modern Art [New York]. "Andrew Repasky McElhinney. Magdalen. 1998". Accessed February 9, 2021.
McElhinney's second feature debuted in 2000, the period art-slasher film, A Chronicle of Corpses.Hall, Phil. Independent Film Distribution. Saline, ME: McNaughton & Gunn Inc, 2006, pg. 167. A Chronicle of Corpses made a "festival splash"Harvey, Dennis. "Georges Bataille's Story of the Eye", Variety, June 15, 2004. Retrieved January 6, 2021. and was praised by Dave Kehr of The New York Times.Kehr, Dave. "Decadence Meets Death On an 1800's Plantation", The New York Times, October 24, 2001, Section E, pg. 1. Dennis Lim, in The Village Voice, wrote that A Chronicle of Corpses was "easily the most peculiar American indie to play New York theaters this year… alternately flamboyant and minimal… Abe Holtz's resourceful camera switches between fussy, iconic frescoes and showboat prowls. ...rancid opulence and humid religiosity."Lim, Dennis. "Vicious Cycles", The Village Voice, October 23, 2001.
McElhinney's next film was Georges Bataille's Story of the Eye released in 2003.Hall, Phil. Independent Film Distribution. Saline, ME: McNaughton & Gunn Inc, 2006, pg. 173. Dennis Harvey, in Variety, opined that the film affirmed McElhinney's "certifiable coolness" and was "a punk-pornocopia equivalent to Last Year at Marienbad."
McElhinney's Animal Husbandry (2008) is a "pop art fusion of 1930s pre-code romantic comedy and European regietheater."Cook, Nicole Elizabeth, "Crime Writing Encounters: Greg Giovanni and Andrew Repasky McElhinney on Casual Encounters: Philadelphia True Crime Confessions," Film International, (vol. 19, no. 3, issue 97), pp. 115-133.
In 2009, McElhinney created the video projections for Brat Production's Haunted House, Haunted Poe, directing two short films for the event, The Tell-Tale Heart and Poe's Last Train Ride. The Philadelphia Inquirer praised McElhinney's work as "Hitchcockian".Rosenfield, Wendy. "Wails, woe: 'Haunted Poe'", The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 13, 2009. Accessed October 10, 2020. The entire production was credited as "the season's wildest ride."Robb, J Cooper. "PW's Picks For Best Theater This Year." Philadelphia Weekly, July 7, 2010. Accessed July 10, 2010.
McElhinney's Christmas Dreams (2015) is a children's holiday musical fantasy, the movie was a shot entirely on a soundstage and features extensive special effects and CGI. The Museum of Modern Art commented that McElhinney's direction leaves the "spectator in an unaccustomed position of rhetorical uncertainty, suspended between irony and sentiment."https://www.moma.org/calendar/film/5548
McElhinney's movie Casual Encounters: Philadelphia True Crime Confessions is in post-production."Casual Encounters: Philadelphia True Crime Confessions", ARMcinema25.com. Accessed January 3, 2021. The project is "based on newspaper reports, interviews and trial transcripts, it reframes Philadelphia true crime narratives to make viewers complicit in, and forced to examine the urban issues of poverty, illegal drugs, gentrification, as well as crime as entertainment, and the voice of violence in domestic American society. …[It] is an epic tour though five radically different, yet adjacent, neighborhoods… The experience is a history of the city 1960–2010, with each neighborhood shot in a different physical film format (4K HD, 35MM, 16MM negative/reversal, Super 8MM, iPhone 5, miniDV and VHS)."Cook, Nicole Elizabeth, "Crime Writing Encounters: Greg Giovanni and Andrew Repasky McElhinney on Casual Encounters: Philadelphia True Crime Confessions", Film International, (vol. 19, no. 3, issue 97), pg. 116.
Retrospectives June 2004, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts presented a retrospective of McElhinney's movies and installation work (to date), with the film director and some cast alumni in attendance.Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. "Monthly Calendar - Jun 04." San Francisco: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 2004.
October 2013, the Zoetropolis Art House, in collaboration with Franklin & Marshall College, presented a revival of McElhinney's debut feature, Magdalen, projected on film. "Magdalen by Andrew Repasky McElhinney, Filmmaker in-person, at Zoetropolis.", Moviate.org. October 16, 2014. Accessed February 2, 2021.
In December 2019, Woodmere Art Museum presented screenings of the original version of McElhinney's fifth feature, Christmas Dreams. "Tuesday Night at the Movies Hosted By Woodmere Art Museum", ChestnutHillPA.com. December 10, 2019. Accessed December 11, 2020.
March 2020, The Museum of Modern Art scheduled A Chronicle of Corpses for its 20th Anniversary.https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/6565
December 2022, The Museum of Modern Art streamed Christmas Dreams as its holiday offering.https://www.moma.org/calendar/film/554
November 2023, The Philadelphia Mausoleum of Contemporary Art presented a 20th Anniversary screening of Georges Bataille's Story of the Eye.https://link.dice.fm/l888f339211
November 2024, The Philadelphia Mausoleum of Contemporary Art presented a 25th Anniversary screening of A Chronicle of Corpses.https://link.dice.fm/achronicleofcorpsesphilamoca
July 2025, The Philadelphia Mausoleum of Contemporary Art presented a 30th Anniversary screening of A Maggot Tango.https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/62157587/
Theater Since 1993, McElhinney has directed theater productions including The Visitor (McElhinney) – 1993; Oleanna (Mamet) – 1996; The Artificial Jungle (Ludlam) – 1997; The Malady of Death (Duras) – NYC 1999; The Peek-A-Boo Revue Burlesque Show – 2003–2007; Who Milk Dat Was? (Wildau) – 2007; Death and Devil (Wedekind) – 2009; Blue Movie: A Film By Andy Warhol (Warhol) – 2010; Macbeth (Shakespeare) – 2010; The Cowen Bridge Girls (Giovanni/McElhinney) – 2011; Rent (Larson – musical staging only) – 2011; Timon of Athens (Shakespeare) – 2011; Q+C (Cook) – 2012; Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare) – 2013; and Troilus and Cressida (Shakespeare) – 2015.
From 2016-2020, McElhinney was the Producing Artistic Associate at Torn Out Theater which produced and promoted theatrical productions that inspired and challenged audiences to explore the questions of modern sexuality, gender, and the body politic in public spaces.
In 2017, McElhinney and writing partner Greg Giovanni were commissioned by New Yiddish Rep to create a screen adaptation of Sholem Asch's drama, God of Vengeance."New Screen Adaptation of 'GOD OF VENGEANCE' to Receive Reading Next Week", Broadwayworld.com Retrieved 29 Sept 2019.
2017-2021, McElhinney was the director of Shakespeare in Harrowgate Park, a theater production entity committed to free, outdoor performances of classic theater, live music and children's theater in Harrowgate Park.
References
External links McFarland & Company's page for McElhinney's book, "Second Takes: Remaking Film, Remaking America"
ARMcinema25.com — Andrew Repasky McElhinney's website A Chronicle of Corpses Reviews at Metacritic Georges Bataille's Story of the Eye Reviews at Metacritic