Where Is Anne Frank

Folman follows up Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation with a fanciful tale that extends Anne’s legacy to the contemporary refugee crisis in Europe and is carried off with graceful drawings by Israeli artist Guberman. As tourists line up outside the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, a bolt of lightning strikes Anne’s famous diary, bringing her imaginary friend Kitty to life. As the redheaded embodiment of Anne’s longing for a companion, Kitty is surprised to learn of Anne’s fame and of her death at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945. Kitty balks at a theatrical production that misquotes Anne’s belief in human goodness, when Anne’s actual diary conveyed fear as well as charm: “What chance do I have of surviving anyway?” Kitty is most disturbed when she follows a skinny, brown-skinned pickpocket named Peter, who introduces her to contemporary refugee families evading deportation in cramped hideouts like the Franks’. Holding the diary hostage from a society that wants to make Anne an icon while ignoring its hypocrisies, Kitty leaps through the streets of Amsterdam. The parallel story of Awa, another young refugee, is brief but weighty, thanks to Guberman’s more realistic style on these pages. When Kitty finally returns to a swirl of ink, it’s implied she lives on metaphorically whenever people apply the lessons of Anne Frank’s life to contemporary situations. The premise steps out on a limb, but it lands a strong message. (Sept.)