Consider Anything, Only Don’t Cry

Produced and Directed by

Helen DeMichiel

A project of Thirty Leaves Productions

About the Film

“The tape begins with a little girl dancing in place, looking up at the camera, the soundtrack is a sing-song of a child’s voice, repeating the word ‘keeping,’ while an adult woman’s voice recites a list of personal things that must be kept, ‘Keeping my books, keeping my fish, keeping my secrets, keeping it all inside of me.’ This litany is a ritual to proclaim one’s individuality, the initial juxtaposition of the child and the adult dialogues occurring simultaneously sets the tone for the entire work. Employing old home movies, still photographs, interviews, mini narrative dramas, radio talk shows, music, diary entries, De Michiel blends and collages layers of sound and image that create a palimpsest of thoughts, and constructs a stunning model of personal reverie.” Mark Durant, 1988, San Francisco