Anne Frank and the secret diary: at the cinema in an animated version

Back in Italian cinemas from 29 September 2022 Anne Frank’s diarybut in animated version. Israeli director Ari Folmannominated for an Oscar, has decided to bring back to the big screen the tragic story of the Jewish girl who dreamed of becoming a writer.

Of the famous Diary numerous adaptations have been made over the years, but until now no one had had the courage to transpose it into the form of Cartoon. Ari Folman embarked on the risky enterprise with the intention of “keep alive the memory in the new generations”.

The director had started working on the ambitious project in 2014 by carrying out careful research in the archive of Anne Frank FoundationL’Anne Frank Fonds Basel, founded by his father Otto Frank in 1963.

The film was selected as an “out of competition work” at the Cannes Film Festivala fact that rarely happens for animation works and shows the extraordinarily innovative nature of the operation carried out by Folman.

Anne Frank’s diary in an unedited version

The story of Anne Frank is presented to viewers today in one unedited version: Folman, seventy-five years after writing the famous diary, offers the current public a contemporary reinterpretation. Anne Frank and the secret diary tells the whole story from the point of view of KittyAnna’s imaginary friend, who follows in the footsteps of the girl through Europe present between refugee centers and places dedicated to welcoming migrants.

Ari Folman revisits the sad story of Anne Frank tying it to the invisible Holocaust that is consumed every day in our cities, on our coasts, under our inattentive or too busy looks elsewhere.

The decision to use the technique of animated reproduction was made precisely to bring the story of Anne Frank – and the ethical questions it proposes – closer to a young audience that needs to be educated on these issues. The protagonists of Folman’s film are all children and teenagers, precisely to give young people the opportunity to identify with the proposed characters.

Let’s find out more in detail plot And trailer of the film Anna and the secret diary coming to theaters.

“Anne Frank and the secret diary”: the animated film by Ari Folman

The entire story of Anne Frank is told from the point of view of Kitty – a cheeky and rebellious red-haired girl – who, reversing the structure of the famous diary, now acts as narrator.

The “dear Kitty” then assumes the role of the protagonist: she is in fact looking for her friend Anna to find out what happened to her at the end of the war. On her journey through Europe, Kitty thus discovers the conditions of the current migrants fleeing the war, who find themselves stuck in refugee centres, she witnesses bewildered at a reality torn apart by injustices.

Helped by the young Peter, who runs a center for migrants, Kitty discovers a new Amsterdam that has schools, theaters and hospitals dedicated to the name of Anne Frank and yet has not yet learned what the true meaning of welcome is. The ending will be unexpected.

There animated playback was made by the designer Lena Guberman which used 159,000 individual designs created in 15 countries using an innovative technique, combining static backgrounds with classic 2D animated figures.

Anna and the secret diary by transforming the historical truth into a cartoon, it also reminds the new generations of the unmissable appointment with history. Because only by understanding the past can we fully experience the future, avoiding repeating the same mistakes. What has today’s world learned from the story of Anne Frank? This is the underlying question in the animated feature film by Ari Folman.

Using the carefree technique of the cartoon, the Israeli director invites us to reflect more deeply on current reality, reminding us that Anna’s story should not be relegated to a now remote past. Her message is current, today more than ever.

Anne Frank and the secret diary of Ari Folman: the trailer