Anne Frank House: The Bookcase for Tolerance

Intolerance is often fuelled by the unknown. It begins with words and can lead to physical acts of violence. Today, the UNESCO International Day for Tolerance, sees the launch of “The Bookcase for Tolerance'' created by Innocean Berlin in collaboration with Media.Monks. Under the motto #DontHateEducate, the project uses the power of personal testimonials to educate people and to influence their attitude and behaviour towards those considered "different". The app, website and docuseries give a unique insight into the lives of Anne Frank and four young people facing discrimination. All so we can live in a tolerant world. A world without discrimination. On 11 April 1944, whilst hiding from Nazi persecution in a Secret Annex concealed by a bookcase, Anne Frank wrote the following in her diary: “Let me be myself” – longing for the day when people could be seen once again as humans and not labelled by their beliefs. Executive Director of the Anne Frank House, Ronald Leopold, puts it: “This bookcase reminds us of what prejudice and discrimination can lead to. Many young people still have to deal with this. The Bookcase for Tolerance tells their story. By using the power of personal testimonies, we want to make intolerance and discrimination a topic of discussion and help counter it." Through augmented reality, the Bookcase for Tolerance app invites the audience to immerse in the rooms of Dalit, a woman that deals with antisemitism in her everyday life; Mees, a transgender non-binary person who struggles with acceptance and inequality; Kuei, a young black woman often discriminated because of her skin colour; Majd, a refugee living in the Netherlands who still faces prejudice because of his roots; and Anne Frank, the girl who changed the world by – in her own words – “writing against the depths of despair”. The app was developed using photogrammetry, a spatial scanning technique based on photographic images that allows capturing a 3D representation of places, objects and people. The rooms of these 5 protagonists come to life in the virtual world, after being carefully modelled and rendered in 3D. Each room contains some of their personal objects, allowing users to know them and their struggles a little better. The website features the documentaries and points visitors towards the immersive experience awaiting on the app. Both are featured in English, Dutch, Spanish, German, and Portuguese – so that more people can interact with and share these powerful testimonials. Standing against intolerance as well, other renowned collaborators joined forces. Johan Kramer, co-founder of Dutch agency KesselsKramer, directed the teaser film, which was narrated by Elliot Page. As a transgender person, the actor and activist often speaks publicly about the topics of acceptance and tolerance. As for the documentaries and launch film, they were directed by the Dutch filmmaker Ted Alkemade. Yvette de Witt and Sven Schrader – based in Rotterdam and Berlin, respectively – captured the essence of the project through their photographic work. MassiveMusic Berlin composed the musical score used throughout the project. Hagens, based in Amsterdam, is responsible for the PR efforts.