Reboot Studios Presents A Navy Court Production: A dark comedy about a high-end design firm rebranding the gift shop at The Anne Frank House

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 short by writer Mickey Rapkin about antisemitism that packs a vital and timely message. The film, shortlisted for the best live action short category for the 96th Academy Awards, is now streaming on ChaiFlicks, the world’s leading streaming platform dedicated to Jewish content.The exclusive streaming release coincides with Anne Frank’s birthday, honoring her timeless wish: “I want to go on living even after my death.” — Anne Frank, April 5, 1944.

Stream it only on ChaiFlicks, the world’s leading platform for Jewish storytelling. Free with a special offer of a 7-day trial and $6/month after.

In the film, a team of designers is tasked with rebranding the Anne Frank House gift shop. What follows is an absurd and unsettling pitch meeting where they debate strategies ranging from TikTok campaigns and true-crime podcasts to Instagram-famous cats and influencer tie-ins. The result is a sharp and darkly funny exploration of how we preserve memory in the digital age—and whether there is a wrong way to talk about the Holocaust. Rapkin, whose best selling book was the basis for the Pitch Perfect film and television franchise, partnered with Reboot Studios to produce the film. Learn more here.

In addition to the recognition of the Oscar shortlist, in 2023, “The Anne Frank Gift Shop” was awarded the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival’s Film Movement Award for Best Narrative Short! It also won the film won Best Short at the 2023 Santa Barbara Jewish Film Festival and the Audience Award for Best Short at the Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival’s Fall Fest 2023.

The premise for this debut short is comedic—and there are plenty of jokes—but this film grew out of a very real challenge, “shocking levels of ignorance about the greatest crime of the 20th century.” There has never been a more necessary time for the Holocaust story to be told with a fresh perspective. Featuring darkly funny and ultimately moving turns by a strong cast including Ari Graynor (Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story), Chris Perfetti (Abbott Elementary), Jason Butler Harner (Ozark), Kate Burton (a Tony nominee for Hedda Gabler), Josh Meyers (MadTV) and Mary Beth Barone (Amazon Prime’s Overcompensating) as a stone-faced Gen Z influencer, The Anne Frank Gift Shop uses dark humor and conscious reflection to meet this next generation where they live.

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 United States either; the Claims Conference uncovered similar results in Canada, France, and Austria.

We’re living in strange times. Antisemitic incidents are on the rise and fascism is somehow making a comeback. How do you reach a generation that has access to tragedy in their pockets? Should the Anne Frank House have its own Instagrammable moment? Should there be a place to take a selfie with Anne? What is even appropriate anymore?

“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. This irreverent short plays like an episode of “Succession” meets a breakout room at McKinsey Consulting. 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.

Reboot Studios is the production arm of the nonprofit Reboot, funding and developing Jewish content across theater, television, film, podcasts, music and publishing.