By Cailin Acosta
LA MESA, California – The Anne Frank Gift Shop began streaming on Thursday, June 12, which would have been Anne Frank’s birthday. ChaiFlicks and Reboot Studios launched this award-winning short film consistent with Frank’s wish to go on living even after her death.
The film is a dark comedy that asks the timely question of how Frank can be marketed to the Gen Z generation. The film was shortlisted for the 2024 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short and winner of Best Short at the 43rd Annual San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.
The film starts off with a group of marketing designers who have been tasked with how to rebrand the Anne Frank House gift shop in Amsterdam with discussions of TikTok campaigns, podcasts, Instagram, and media influencers. The pitches were not received well by the curators played by actress Kate Burton and actor Josh Meyers.
The message was how to not forget about the Holocaust since so many Gen Z’s do not know about it and their grandparents, who were survivors, are dying. How can the younger generation be educated on this tragedy so that history does not repeat itself?
After some silence and contemplation, actress Ari Graynor suggests that every day at closing time, they recite the Mourners Kaddish. Everyone has a connection to loss, not just in the Holocaust but in life. She pitches that everyone can identify with a love lost, a friendship lost, or losing a pet. She pulls out her phone and reads the prayer which everyone in the meeting recites along with her. During the short, actor Chris Perfetti’s phone rang with a call from his father. The short ends with him excusing himself to answer the call as he wipes tears from his eyes.
In the credits, they show a mock TikTok account of a black cat that Frank mentions in her famous book Diary of a Young Girl. The cat posts quotes from her diary to bridge the past with the present.
The short focused on how to make the younger generation aware that the Holocaust happened and chronicled the technological advancements since the 1940’s. The images are preserved in memories but bringing these memories to the digital age can cause controversy.
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Cailin Acosta is the assistant editor of the San Diego Jewish World.