She belonged to a select company - that of Dutch Oscar winners. On 24 March 1986, Cilia van Dijk (1941-2023) was allowed to take to the stage in Hollywood as producer of Børge Ring's Anna & Bella to receive the Oscar for best short animation. In this context, the name Van Dijk naturally brings to mind Gerrit van Dijk (1938-2012), the headstrong artist who had emerged as an energetic representative of a new generation of animation filmmakers in the 1970s.
Indeed, in 1963, Cilia van Lieshout was married to Gerrit van Dijk, a marriage that also meant a lot artistically. After all, a director/artist may usually be more in the spotlight than the producer behind it, but they couldn't do without each other. In an interview in the memorial book of the same name (2020) dedicated to freebooter Gerrit van Dijk, she talks about the twosome they formed. Together, but also each going their own way. In the aforementioned book you can read, among other things, that she had little love for Harry Potter or Disney.
Warm heart for culture
She emerged as a film producer (and distributor) when artist Gerrit van Dijk started making animation films. This joined a wide range of other activities she was involved in, even before that. Cilia van Dijk co-founded Release, founded modelling agency People and a crèche, was a member of Dolle Mina and in 1978 started the distribution company Animated People. The latter was the forerunner of the Netherlands Institute for Animation. She was a board member of the Holland Animation Association and sat on many advisory committees and juries. And, as mentioned, was a producer of short, artistically idiosyncratic animation films, mostly by her husband.
In Haarlem, she and Gerrit were heavily involved in local cultural life, providing her services to the Toneelschuur and theatre company Het Volk, among others.
Animation knows no boundaries
Gerrit van Dijk's films she produced have received multiple awards. Including the Golden Bear in Berlin for both Pas à deux (1988) as I move, therefore I exist (1998). In 2015, she produced Animation Has No Borders, a compilation film to the music of The Internationale, made by 36 animators from 36 countries. Actually quite fitting for its rich network and its many activities in support of independent animation film.
Cilia van Dijk was appointed Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau and was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She died after a short illness on 26 April 2023.
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