Where Is Anne Frank

Ari Folman / IL, BE, LU, FR, NL, 2021 / 99 min.

Where is Anne Frankis Ari Folman's visionary and kids-friendly update of the story of Anne Frank. Rather than focusing on Anne Frank herself, Folman chooses to make Frank's imaginary friend Kitty - whom Anne wrote to - the protagonist.

The story of Anne Frank remains a crucial one to tell. We can all agree on that. So dear parents, arrange a special family night out to educate and entertain your children with this wonderful take on a diary that must never be forgotten!

And that's a belief shared by the celebrated Israeli animation filmmaker Ari Folman. After Waltz with Bashir and The Congress, Folman revitalizes the diary of Anne Frank by giving it a present-day urgency. We travel through modern-day Amsterdam as well as through Kitty's memories of the Secret Annex where she and Anne talked bout movie stars, the boys in school and being Jewish. The innovative screenplay draws parallels between the present humanitarian crises and the important life lessons of Anne Frank, which makes the film so much more than a retelling of the wartime story of one of Amsterdam's bravest girl. Has Anne Frank become no more than a name on tourist attractions?

As in all Folman's work, the animation is vividly rendered. The film is composed out of 159,000 drawings made in fifteen different countries. A team of animators even created a miniature model of the Secret Annex. Folman used it to record images of real scenery, after which he added 2D animated characters onto these backgrounds. The director also has a personal connection with the material: his parents arrived at the gates of Auschwitz the same week as the family ... Frank.

Originally commissioned by the Anne Frank Fonds, the film starts in the Anne Frank House 75 years after the world's most famous diary was written. Miraculously, Kitty comes to life but finds herself alone and confused. Where is her Anne? Kitty sets out on a quest to find her friend.