263 Films and “Dear Anne”
“Dear Anne. The Gift of Hope” is the full-length 3D animation film produced by 263 Films of Milan. The thirty-yearold director, Dario Picciau - whose 3D film “L’Uovo” (The Egg) received awards at the Bologna Future Film Festival in 2003 and at other important film festivals - introduces at the press conference of the Future Film Festival, a work in Digital Reality - the new standard of digital cinema. Much has been said and written about “Dear Anne”, partly
because it tells an unforgettable story, and partly because its creation has brought together the finest team of digital artists ever to work on a project of this kind. The result is something that has never been seen before in movies: the 3D photorealistic reconstruction of a lost world which returns in the light of art to speak out to the hearts of people throughout the world.
The film was made possible thanks to a number of ethical investors who founded the production company 263 Films at Milano Due and alongside it Raptor Studios in Busto Arsizio, the most technologically-advanced motion capture studios in Europe. The feature film obtained the consensus (receiving top points) and financial backing as a film of cultural interest from the Commissione Cinema del Ministero dei Beni Culturali, (the Film Commission of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage). “Dear Anne. The Gift of Hope” is a story which is still relevant today. It makes use of a “synchronic” screenplay - the insight of Roberto Malini - thanks to which a character from our own time can interact with an authentic symbol of the darkest period in human history: Anne Frank. Emily and Anne, sisters in
different periods, both in search of a ray of light in the darkness. They offer people of the present day an unforgettable message, one that is able to comfort those who suffer and remind everyone that only death and destruction can result from discrimination, prejudice and hatred.
In order to transform Anne and her people’s moral legacy into a film, the experts and artists of the production company 263 Films carried out painstaking research into places and events of the Second World War, and in particular the events of the Shoah in Holland. The team has recreated every setting, (both internal and exteriors), every object, every character in the story right down to the smallest detail. The film brings forgotten places back to life: Amsterdam during the occupation, the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen; Emily’s home in the present-day American provinces; the rooms of the secret annex in which the Frank family took refuge; the Nazis and their victims; a handful of heroes in their fight against evil. Dario Picciau, the director, after studying in great depth the events, places and settings in which the Dutch Jews were persecuted, brought together a group of collaborators including the top artists specialized in character design (Jon Foster, Ashley Wood, Tim Bradstreet and others) and artists from 3D animation (Jonas Thornquist, Carles Piles, Sebastian Schollhammer, Josep Thomas, Juan Siquier and Andrea Trovato) – artists who have worked on productions like Harry Potter, Star Wars, The Punisher, Blade, Constantin. The “Dear Anne” project aims to make people reflect on the universal meaning of life, of death and the
example of a young writer with a sharp and bright intelligence, a life cut short by prejudice, one that should never be forgotten. The music from the sound track was written by Carlo Siliotto, a fine composer who continues the work of the best Italian school. The project has obtained recognition from the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research, the patronage and scientific support of Yad Vashem and the Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum: important recognition reserved for very few works in contemporary art and culture.
Productions:
Public Relations:
Daniele Foglia
Director Dario Picciau
Autor
Roberto Malini
website: www.annesdoor.com
trailer: Dear Anne
263 Films S.p.A.
Residenza Portici, 7-11
20090 Milano Due, Segrate (Milano) Italia
