Thrilled to announce that the animation short film Anyone lived in a pretty how town, directed by Daniel Kreizberg, narrated and Executive Produced by the wonderful and unforgettable Dr. Jane Goodall, in collaboration with Mailuki Films and the STUDIO, will premiere at the wonderful SCAD Savannah Film Festival, USA.

The film will premiere in the Professional Animated Shorts competition at the landmark Lucas Theatre on Friday, October 31st at 10AM.

Anyone lived in a pretty how town is an animation short film inspired by E.E. Cummings’ poetry and paintings, soundtrack by the late maestro Yakov Kreizberg.

Spanning many years, this eight-minute-long film explores the profound love connection that develops between its protagonists “anyone” and “noone,” residents of a small town that becomes increasingly alienated and industrialized as the seasons progress. Using 2D cel animation for the characters and backgrounds painted multiple times to create a kinetic effect, the film blends modernist poetry, impressionistic illustrations, and a romantic tone poem for violin and orchestra to explore timeless questions of love, belonging and mortality in our age of disconnection. A social and ecological fable for our times, this film holds a mirror to our challenging cultural moment and invites viewers back to something deeply human.

For director Daniel Kreizberg, the project is also deeply personal. Its soundtrack is the final, acclaimed recording by the director’s father, the late maestro Yakov Kreizberg. “One of the world’s leading conductors” (BBC Music Magazine), the elder Kreizberg’s “glittering career” (The Independent) included tenures at the Komische Oper Berlin, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, and Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, alongside appearances with most every other major ensemble. In 2011, Kreizberg passed away at just 51 years of age, leaving behind “a recording legacy that is almost unparalleled in its breadth and beauty” (The Telegraph). His masterful rendition of The Lark Ascending by Ralph Vaughan Williams, which Classic FM awarded 5/5 stars and called “the finest on record” of the oft-recorded piece, weaves through the film as both a tribute and a narrative thread, a touching reminder of how art transcends time and loss. 

The younger Kreizberg says: “Using my late father’s final recording as the film’s musical and emotional foundation felt like a true collaboration together. The process has built a bridge to him across the seeming boundary between life and death, and this connection to his everlasting spirit will remain with me forever. It is the realization of an impossible dream, just as Cummings describes in the poem: “wish by spirit and if by yes.” Watching the film, I feel Yakov in every frame, and I know audiences will too.”

Of the work more broadly, Kreizberg explains: “I have long treasured this poem by E.E. Cummings, which is magical, evocative and profoundly moving. When I discovered the astonishing resonances between the poem and my father’s Lark, and moreover encountered the poet’s own catalogue of paintings, an unjustly overlooked area of his life’s work, it became clear that this film was asking to be made. Ultimately, our story is about that which is everlasting: the lives we touch, the impact we have on the planet, and the legacies we leave behind. Our titular character “anyone” embodies the fundamental humanity found within any one of us, while our music celebrates the eternal spirit we all carry, one which yearns to soar and be free if only we will let it.”

The poem is given haunting resonance through a reading by legendary ethologist and conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, whose intimate voice lends gravity to Cummings’ meditation, highlighting the film’s social and ecological themes.

The film’s unique art and animation style was developed by the STUDIO, and inspired by E.E. Cummings’ own paintings; dreamy, delicate oil and watercolors. 

Daniel Kreizberg confirms that he will attend the world premiere of the Anyone lived in a pretty how town on October 31.

This is the first of many festivals that we will be announcing progressively. Stay tuned.

#mailukifilms #shorts #shortfilm #bilbao #variety #cortos #cortometraje #thewrap #indiewire #deadline #thehollywoodreporter #movie #moviemaker #festival #film #filmmaker #sundance #flickerfest #europeanfilmawards #EFA #academyawards #fotogramas #dirigidopor #cinemania #award #premiere #oscars #premiosgoya #hollyshorts #nomination #foryourconsideration #animacion #animation