CMI student produces new documentary

Annie Ersinghaus, NMSU senior and one of many talented students in the Creative Media Institute, has curated a plethora of videos that she publishes on her YouTube account. The videos cover a range of topics including environmental awareness, summer adventures, music and much more. 

Using her videography and storytelling skills, Annie is currently creating a documentary on this past semester she spent studying abroad in Australia. The film explains how she learned to feel more connected to Earth, and the many different ways to respect the planet. 

Ersinghaus, who previously published the environmental awareness film “Burning Water,” has a special interest in conservation and sustainability efforts. Her passion developed from the way she finds comfort in sitting in nature, especially in the evening after a hectic day. 

“I want to treat nature as well as she treats us,” Ersinghaus said. “It’s really a symbiotic experience. We are the same as the trees; we’re the same as the endangered species we are trying to save. Taking care of the earth is self care.” 

Ersinghaus first started getting involved with filmmaking during her freshman year of high school when she created her YouTube account, not realizing she was already becoming a documentarian.

“Within the first couple videos, which were summer videos, I realized that I love to show people my perspective and the adventures I went on,” Ersinghaus said. “Because I realized no one could ever see things the way I see them, and I can never see things the way you do.”

Ersinghaus is working on her documentary about Australia with NMSU Associate Professor Iliana Lapid, who has taught Annie in several courses. 

“Annie is someone who is always thoughtfully in dialogue with the world around her, and with her own inner creative process of meaning-making,” Lapid said. “She creates as a way to connect with herself and to share her experiences, and her inspiring films invite people to examine their lives, ask questions, and live fully.”

In her upcoming documentary, which has yet to be titled, Ersinghaus touches on the culture she experienced in Australia, the relationships she made, new ways to live sustainably, the sights she witnessed and the difficulty she had leaving it all behind. 

Ersinghaus opens the documentary by acknowledging those who supported her on her journey in a foreign country. 

“This film, fed by all of you, became more than just my story, my coming of age, it became something magnificently bigger than I,” Ersinghaus said. “I also learned we take advantage of life and love and all sorts of things until they have to go, and it’s at that point you realize just how much of it you have, and [you] question why [you] didn’t recognize it beforehand. So this film is dedicated to you all. This film is to give back in the best way I know.” 

Ersinghaus plans to return to Australia in the future after her exhilarating experiences last semester. The release date of Ersinghaus’s upcoming documentary has yet to be determined, and will be featured on her YouTube channel. 

Publisher’s Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified one of Ersinghaus’ earlier films. The correct name of the film is “Burning Water,” not “Burning Efforts.”