LOGLINE: When a high-end design firm presents its plans to reimagine the gift shop at The Anne Frank House, the company’s overt appeals to Generation Z spark a darkly comic debate about collective trauma, the Holocaust and tote bags.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

Is there a wrong way to talk about the Holocaust? That’s the question at the heart of THE ANNE FRANK GIFT SHOP, a dark comedy about anti-Semitism that packs a vital and timely message. Here’s the logline: When a high-end design firm presents its plans to reimagine the gift shop at The Anne Frank House, the company’s overt appeal to Generation Z sparks a debate about collective trauma, the Holocaust and tote bags.

The premise is comedic—and there are plenty of jokes—but this film grew out of a very real challenge. According to a recent study by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims, two-thirds of young adults in the U.S. couldn’t tell you that six million Jews died in the Holocaust. Some 11 percent of respondents somehow believed “Jews caused the Holocaust.” The Guardian summarized the results, citing “shocking levels of ignorance about the greatest crime of the 20th century.” It wasn’t just happening in the States either; the Claims Conference uncovered similar results in Canada, France, and Austria.

How do you reach a generation that has access to tragedy in their pockets? We’re living in strange times. Anti-Semitic incidents are on the rise. THE ANNE FRANK GIFT SHOP takes aim at a very real problem—a generation with little awareness of the Holocaust—and attempts to solve it with humor by meeting this audience where they live. But the laughs soon give way to the film’s essential message. As one of the characters says, “We need to tell this story again and again and again—every which way we can—or it will happen again.”

There has never been a more necessary time for the Holocaust story to be told with a fresh perspective. THE ANNE FRANK GIFT SHOP stars Ari Graynor (FX’s “Mrs. America”), Chris Perfetti (so funny on “Abbott Elementary” every week), Kate Burton (a Tony nominee for “Hedda Gabbler”), Jason Butler Harner (“Ozark”), the comedian Mary Beth Barone, and Josh Meyers (“MadTV”). It is produced by Jane Sinisi (the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors) and Reboot Studios. And we’re so proud to share it with you.—Mickey Rapkin, writer/director