Animation festivals in Amsterdam and Utrecht join forces and are now KABOOM

The new animation festival launching on 9 November has a name that pops: KABOOM. A feast for lovers (and who isn't) of animation in all its forms. First from 9-12 November in Utrecht with a programme for kids and family, followed by from 13-17 November in Amsterdam for adult viewers.

But wait. We already had two animation festivals, right? That's right, but they have now joined forces. It's something like this:

Merger

First, of course, there was the Holland Animation Film Festival (HAFF), founded in 1985 and based in Utrecht. In 2007, it was joined by the KLIK! Amsterdam Animation Festival with a very overlapping programme. In 2018, conflict arose at HAFF over its direction, resulting in the resignation of director Gerben Schermer and the cancellation of edition 2018. How was it to continue?

HAFF approached KLIK! and after a year of thorough talks, both organisations came to the conclusion that they complement each other well. So good to join forces in the future, says press contact Maxi Meissner. The result is KABOOM, organised as a joint project with a staff made up partly of veterans and partly of new people. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, work is underway to ensure that the two organisations are truly merged.

Earthman and South Korea

As both its predecessors did, KABOOM offers a broad overview of the contemporary state of animation, from experimental to films for wide audiences. These do not necessarily have to be premieres, but that the latest Toy Story is missing is because there is no collaboration with Disney-Pixar this year. That, incidentally, is more than made up for by a focus on the British Aardman studio (think Wallace & Gromit). Another special is work from South Korea, which is rarely seen here.

The emphasis is on short films, in an amazing variety from a wide range of countries. That is where the heart of the organisation really goes. Relatively new is the expansion of the offer for kids and family, which fans out across the city of Utrecht. Not only films, but also workshops and activities with local partners. In Amsterdam, the emphasis is on the offer for adult audiences and professionals.

The Industry Day in Utrecht on 12 November will bring together filmmakers, distributors, festival programmers and other professionals. In this way, KABOOM hopes to help develop the animation world.

There are competitions for long and short animation, student films, Dutch short, commissioned films, short films for children and virtual reality.

100 years of Dutch animation

One of the themed programmes is 100 years of Dutch animation. Actually 101 years, because the oldest film shown is An adventure in the skies from 1918. In addition, this review offers a pleasant reunion with many wonderful minor classics, including the 2001 Oscar-winning Father and Daughter By Michaël Dudok de Wit.

Greatly expanded compared to previous years is the Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality offerings. One of the performances Meissner tipped is Fight. In this interacteive live performance with Augmented Reality, animations are given life by a real martial arts practitioner. Another tip is Hand-Painted Paradise, a workshop by Steven Woloshen that teaches you to paint an animation directly on film. That we still get to experience that in the digital age! For young visitors, Kinepolis Utrecht has a wide range of self-do activities under the title Exploration Station.

If yours truly may also tip something, it is not only the chance to binge with all the episodes of Undone, but also, for example, the originally designed short films Intermission Expedition (tourists struggle with letting go of routine) by Wiep Teeuwisse and the almost abstract Flow by Adriaan Lokman. The internationally multi-award-winning French feature-length animation J'ai perdu mon corps Sadly missing from KABOOM, but there is the Annecy award-winning Away, an amazing dream journey of a boy, a motorbike and a small bird. By Gints Zilbalodis from Latvia. See!