Folman to animate Anne Frank
‘Waltz with Bashir’ director signs up for project based on Dutch Holocaust victim’s diary
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
Days after winning The European Award for best animated feature for his collaborative animated feature, “The Congress,” director Ari Folman told The Hollywood Reporter that he will be writing and directing an animated feature based on the diary of Anne Frank.
“Bringing the Anne Frank Diary to all screens is a fantastic opportunity and challenge,” Folman said. “There is a real need for new artistic material to keep the memory alive for younger generations.”
Folman has become known for animating difficult and emotional stories on-screen, starting with his Oscar-nominated “Waltz With Bashir,” about Israeli soldiers during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, which was based on his own traumatic memories.
He also created “B’Tipul,” the Israeli TV series about psychoanalysis adapted by HBO as “In Therapy.”
Folman’s Anne Frank project will be co-produced by new Belgian-based entity Purple Whale Films, which is co-owned by Folman’s team, Bridgit Folman Film Gang, and producer Diana Elbaum’s Belgian group, Entre Chien et Loup. Elbaum was a co-producer on Folman’s latest, “The Congress,” and was one of the producers of the recent thriller “Bethlehem,” about the particular realities of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which Israel is hoping to see nominated for the 2014 Oscars. Production on the Anne Frank project is planned to begin in 2014.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the filmmakers have been granted access to all of the archives of the Anne Frank Fonds Basel, founded by Anne’s father, Otto Frank, as well as to all the branches of the Anne Frank Fonds worldwide.
