anyone lived in a pretty how town

Based on the celebrated poem by E. E. Cummings, director Daniel Kreizberg’s anyone lived in a pretty how town follows the quiet life and death of a man named “anyone.” Our protagonist, anyone, lives in a small town, largely ignored by its residents, who are too busy cycling through their own routines to notice him. The one exception is “noone,” a woman who loves him completely and without fail. The two live out their lives together—a life of love, laughter, and eventual death. Thematically, we see the seasons turn, and life goes on.

When anyone and noone die, they are buried side by side, and the world hardly notices. But their love was real, and that turns out to be enough. Narrated by Jane Goodall, anyone lived in a pretty how town is a quiet meditation on how our lives are isolated from those of people living on our street and in our neighborhoods. The poem found Kreizberg about ten years ago, and it wouldn’t let go. Kreizberg’s father, renowned maestro Yakov Kreizberg, recently passed away, leaving behind a recording of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending. Upon reflection, Kreizberg discovered, “the music lines up with the poem almost note for note.”

“…anyone, lives in a small town, largely ignored by its residents, who are too busy cycling through their own routines to notice him.”

Seizing the opportunity, Kreizberg would labor over eighteen months of meticulous hand-drawn digital animation to finally produce anyone lived in a pretty how town as an homage to the late Cummings, Goodall, and Maestro Kreizberg.

Watching Kreizberg’s animated short, it’s impossible not to feel the weight of C*****g’s poem that starts as a whimsical tale before turning deadly serious. The film is composed of hundreds of thousands of images — a modern take on hand-drawn cel animation. Kreizberg’s art and his father’s music capture the ache of Cummings’ poem frame by frame.

For screening information, visit the anyone lived in a pretty how town official website.