Top 150 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2020: #39. Where is Anne Frank? – Ari Folman

Where is Anne Frank?

A project seven years in-the-making, Israel’s Ari Folman should finally return with his high-profile animated feature Where is Anne Frank?, which will be the first we’ve seen of Folman since his underrated anime live-action hybrid The Congress in 2013. A co-production between Belgium-Netherlands-Israel-Luxembourg, with Diana Elbaum and Jani Thiltges as producers amongst a host of co-producers, the project is photographed by Tristan Oliver, who served as cinematographer on Wes Anderson’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) and Isle of Dogs (2018). Folman also voiced his characters in English, with Emily Carey, Ruby Stokes, Skye Bennett, and Sebastian Croft amongst the voice cast. Folman became one of the biggest breakout directors of 2008 with his third film Waltz with Bashir, which competed at Cannes (and won him a Cesar). He’d return to the Croisette in 2013 with The Congress, which opened the Directors’ Fortnight. Previous to these, his 1996 debut Saint Clara won the Special Prize of the Jury at Karlovy Vary. Bashir is also working on a new live action project, Horse Boy, starring Lea Seydoux.

Gist: Where is Anne Frank? Follows the journey of Kitty, Anne’s imaginary friend to whom she addressed her journal entries. Kitty awakens in the near future in Anne’s house in Amsterdam, resolving to find Anne, who she believes is still alive and well in contemporary Europe. Of note, this is the first film project on Anne Frank which has the support of The Anne Frank Fonds in Basel, which was established by Otto Frank, Anne’s father.

Release Date/Prediction: Folman began working on this project shortly after the premiere of The Congress. With footage unveiled in March 2019 at a Cartoon Movie event in Bordeaux, Folman confirmed the animatic had been completed and the voices recorded. We expect, finally, Folman will be ready to return to Cannes in 2020, potentially in his second time vying for the Palme d’Or.