Holocaust denial clash at centre of controversial film ‘Anno 2020’
A Holocaust-denial showdown is at the heart of ‘Anno 2020’, the award-winning Australian mystery-drama set for global streaming release on September 13.
Sydney Jewish filmmaker Gil Ben-Moshe, who produced the film with his twin brother Oren, plays the lead role of Levi and said that following the success of last year’s red-carpet screenings in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, the team was excited to share their unique work with international audiences.
“While Anno 2020 was very well received by cinemagoers, we believe it is tailor-made for viewing on streaming platforms given its multimedia style and sometimes contentious handling of the lockdowns and other pandemic-related challenges experienced in 2020,” he said.
Anno 2020 trailer
Ben-Moshe described how pandemic restrictions forced parts of the movie to be shot under unusual conditions. “The travel restrictions prevented us from always physically being on set, except for the Australian scenes. Even then, we had to film clandestinely at times. However, the most compelling, powerful and memorable scene in the movie is when Gil’s character Levi confronts a blatant antisemite and Holocaust denier. Critics and film reviewers described this confrontation as a cinema first.”
The film’s director James Morcan took on the role of the Jew-hating conspiracy theorist himself, explaining, “I felt that knowing Gil’s past where he experienced a lot of antisemitism, I would know how to push his buttons, as this completely improvised scene will leave Jewish audiences cheering.”
Critics have highlighted the impact of that moment, calling it one of the film’s defining features. One review noted its “gut-wrenching power” in debunking Holocaust denial on screen. UK-based critic Chris Buick described Anno 2020 as a monumental independent effort, filmed across 17 cities in five countries on four continents with a budget of just $6,000. Another reviewer called it “arguably one of the most overtly ambitious indie feature film projects” they had encountered, praising its emotional depth while cautioning that its 145-minute runtime requires patience.
Directed by Morcan and adapted from his novel of the same name, the film spans five countries, 17 cities and four continents, with dialogue in four languages, including Hebrew.
For MoneyShot Productions’ twin producers, Gil and Oren Ben-Moshe, the Titan International Film Festival award was a welcome acknowledgement of the hurdles they and their team of producers, cast and crew had to overcome to get the film greenlit and completed.
Billed as a global kaleidoscope of interconnected characters seeking redemption, answers and justice amidst the chaos of 2020, it features an ensemble cast including Australians Erin Connor (Occupation: Rainfall), Greg Poppleton (The Chronicles of Narnia), Brett Partridge (Water Rats), Audrey Nitschke (Wolf Like Me), American veterans Kevin Scott Allen (American Primeval), Sheila Ball (Assault on VA-33), La Rivers (Equal Standard), Chinese-American Crystal J. Huang (Dark Feathers), rising US actor-singer Jessica Castello (Oildale), Israeli actress Lital Luzon (Internal Revelation), Oren Ben-Moshe (Babe: Pig in the City), Geoff Sirmai (Underbelly), Michael Gencher (A Place to Call Home) and Gil Ben-Moshe (Blue Murder).
Morcan said the film was created with streaming audiences in mind. “It is an alternative movie with controversial themes that mainstream outlets would likely censor,” he said. “It was apt that one of the awards it won was Best Experimental Film at the Titan International Film Festival here in Australia. That award is reflective of the revolutionary filmmaking and storytelling techniques we used.”
Anno 2020 premieres worldwide on September 13 via YouTube, Odysee, Daily Motion and Rumble. Click here to view on YouTube.
