The first film to tell the story of Anne Frank entirely in drawings, the production employs a vivid animation style to draw the viewer into the story and utlized 159,000 individual drawings created in 15 countries.
The film's artistic director, Lena Grubman, said that the use of animation was to make the film "more accessible" to a generation of young teenagers who have grown up with the internet and who are perhaps less likely to read Frank's book.
"I don't believe a film can change anything, but I believe it's important that, as filmmakers, we do everything to fulfill our hope of films playing a part in reintroducing a different mental and political attitude."Ī response to rising antisemitism and Holocaust denial around the world, the film paints a vivid picture of the evils of German fascism Appealing to teens "Today, we see populism, right-wing extremism, even fascism, and definitely racism and xenophobia in various countries," said producer Jani Thiltges.
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"Then came the idea to revive Kitty in the leading role and make her the protagonist of the movie - the narrator."Īnimation was deemed to be the most effective medium to appeal to a new generation and communicate the links between the Holocaust, discrimination and antisemitism. "They were looking for a new dimension to tell the Holocaust story," said Folman, who himself is the child of Auschwitz survivors. The Anne Frank Fonds Basel, which was founded by Anne's father Otto Frank after the war, approached Folman eight years ago with the idea of an animation movie. The film portrays Anne Frank's happy childhood in her adopted home of Amsterdam before the Nazi invasion A labor of love At the same time, she realizes her powers to promote a movement for children's rights." "This experience turns Kitty into an activist. "That reminds Kitty of Anne and the fact that Anne did not have an opportunity to flee during her relatively short time in hiding," noted Israeli director Ari Folman, who was nominated for an Oscar for 2008's Waltz with Bashir, an animated story of the Lebanon War. But the film is also a romance, an adventure, the story of a witty teenager who loves life, who looks up to her sister Margot and is often in conflict with her mother.Įmerging in current day Europe 75 years after her character was conceived, Kitty also meets other young people who are in danger and fleeing conflict. Set in present-day Amsterdam and across Europe, Kitty sets out to find Anne Frank by reflecting back on the contents of the diary. This version of the story focuses on Kitty, Anne Frank's imaginary friend and alter-ego, to whom the girl devoted her diary. Nearly 75 years later, the story has again been re-imagined for the screen, this time as an animated film that has made a big impact since debuting last week at the Cannes Film Festival. The Diary of Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl's outpouring of her hopes and dreams as she hid from the Nazis in Amsterdam during World War II, was adapted into an Oscar-winning film a decade or so after the book was published in 1947.