The Anne Frank Gift Shop: Holocaust Museum LA

Is there a wrong way to talk about the Holocaust? That’s the question at the heart of “The Anne Frank Gift Shop,” a new dark comedy from Reboot Network member Mickey Rapkin about antisemitism that packs a vital and timely message. 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. Join Reboot Studios at Holocaust Museum LA on December 12, 2023 for a screening and conversation with the filmmakers, moderated by actress, director, and producer Elizabeth Banks.

About the Film:

Rapkin, whose best selling book was the basis for the Pitch Perfect film and television franchise, partnered with Reboot Studios, which funded the film as a part of its inaugural class of Studio projects in 2022. The film premiered earlier this summer at the LA Shorts Film Festival and the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, where it won the Festival’s Film Movement Award for Best Narrative Short. “The Anne Frank Gift Shop” is also the recipient of a 2023 Completion Grant from the Jewish Film Institute and won the Audience Award for Best Short Film at the Santa Barbara Jewish Film Festival in November.

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. “The Anne Frank Gift Shop” cast includes Ari Graynor (FX’s “Mrs. America”), Chris Perfetti (“Abbott Elementary”), Kate Burton (a Tony nominee for “Hedda Gabler”), Jason Butler Harner (“Ozark”), the comedian Mary Beth Barone, and Josh Meyers (“MadTV”). This short uses dark humor and conscious reflection to meet this next generation where they live. Read about the film in Rapkin’s interview with GQ and learn more on our site here.

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

Presenters and Panelists:

Mickey Rapkin is a screenwriter and journalist whose first book, Pitch Perfect—about the world of competitive a cappella singing—inspired the film franchise of the same name. He has developed projects with Apple, John Wells, Jason Bateman’s Aggregate Films, and MRC. Previously a senior editor at GQ, he has written for the New York Times, WSJ, Town & Country, and Esquire. Rapkin lives in Los Angeles.

Elizabeth Banks is known for playing Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games film series and Gail Abernathy-McKadden in the Pitch Perfect film series. She made her directorial film debut with Pitch Perfect 2 , whose $69 million opening-weekend gross set a record for a first-time director. She went on to direct, write, produce, and star in the action comedy film Charlie’s Angels (2019). Banks founded the film and television production company Brownstone Productions in October 2002 with her husband, Max Handelman.