Figure sawing, virtual reality and more in 29th Cinekid Festival

Sculpting and 3D

'Looking with your hands' is this year's theme of Cinekid, the children's and youth festival for film, television and new media. Especially in the latter part, the theme comes into its own. The Medialab on the Westergasfabriek site is a fantastic playground full of installations, games and other DIY things, with or without a camera. Digital and physical, virtual and real go together effortlessly. For instance, children can make their own 3D virtual reality (VR) glasses using a jigsaw, wooden planks, elastic bands, a few lenses and a smartphone.

Virtual bungy jump

More installations involving VR glasses are just around the corner. New is the Bungy, commissioned by Cinekid. With it, you can make a virtual bungy jump, carried horizontally by elastic bands.

Elsewhere in the Medialab, children put on a VR headset to discover how, in a mysterious wonderland on the seabed, everything reacts to their own breathing.

Opening with new television

Also brand new are the six new episodes of the television project Nu of Nooit! with which Cinekid festively opened last Thursday at the Amsterdam cinema Het Ketelhuis. Twenty-five-minute short feature films in which the young protagonists come from different cultural backgrounds.

Usually, Cinekid opens with a new Dutch cinema film for young people. This year, a new television production has been chosen - as has been done before with De Daltons.

By kicking off with new episodes of Nu of Nooit!, Cinekid once again emphasises the fact that a lot of great work for children is being produced for television in the Netherlands. According to Cinekids head of television Mirjam Marks, this high-quality work is also very popular internationally. With youth documentaries, for example, the Netherlands is leading the way. The multicultural approach of Now or Never! means the series can also appeal to children outside the Netherlands.

Saved by private funds

In the middle of the current four-year arts plan period, a gap of 250,000 euros arose, on a budget of around 2.5 million. According to festival director Sannette Naeyé, this is because the first two years benefited proportionally more from the government contribution than the last two.

The Film Fund and the Fund for Cultural Participation did ease the pain somewhat, but the rescue came from Fund 21 and the VSB Fund, which each donated 100,000 euros. For one year, for now. Also new is the contribution from the art and science-focused Ammodo Fund. This supports Cinekid For Professionals with three annual contributions of 60,000 euros. "I was moved to experience how much goodwill Cinekid has," Naeyé said.

Even more cities

Traditionally, Cinekid fans out across the country with films and workshops during the autumn holidays. The number of places where Cinekid on Location descends is bigger than ever this year. This record of 41 cities is thanks to the participation of JT theatres, the second cinema chain in the Netherlands.

Competitions

Because just enjoying an exciting or moving cinema film the old-fashioned way, with or without popcorn on your lap, is of course also possible at Cinekid. The main dish is the international competition with fifteen new titles, alongside competitions for Dutch films and television productions, and for projects in the field of new media. Cinekid expects some 40,000 visitors this year.

In Amsterdam, the public programme runs from 17 to 23 October. Elsewhere in the country from 17 October to 1 November, depending on the time of the autumn holidays.