Overview Kaboom Animation Festival 2021
It is a wrap! Kaboom 2021 is really over, and we are happy to say that animation in the Netherlands has more fans than ever!

We look back at the second edition of the Kaboom Animation Festival with a feeling of pride and happiness. This was a unique edition since it was presented mostly online. We were happy to offer the audience 333 animated shorts and features, several masterclasses, workshops, AR exhibitions, drawing sessions and a feeling of community. Among the festival highlights are an online projection of 16 mm animation, a panel about female pleasure: Women Watching Porn, an Improv Orchestra workshop, and a somewhat melancholic edition of Midnight Madness.
An additional immersive program consisted of a competition for VR projects, an exhibition of AR self-portraits by established and upcoming female animators in the streets of Utrecht and Amsterdam, multiple zoom sessions in which our visitors played game Among Us and a location-based AR project of 40 students of the Willem de Kooning Academie. Inspiring talks touched the subject of Deep-Fake, (therapeutic or damaging?) and future of the VR.
The Kaboom Industry Days
With the growth of the Dutch animation industry, we see a growing role for our Kaboom Industry Days. In collaboration with HKU, NAPA and SEE NL we organized a discussion about this. Our Industry Days were full of presentations of renowned international animation programs, schools and studios and offered workshops on the international strategy for the Dutch animation industry and on collaboration between Dutch MBO and HBO schools. The Young Professionals Day an in-depth insight into the industry and put a spotlight on Dutch animation talent.
The first estimates of visitor numbers show a growing potential for animation among the young and adult audience. We reached more than 30.000 views on our platform, by at least 1.800 unique viewers, and had over 550 industry accreditations!
These results give us a lot of energy to plan our next edition. The 2021 online edition opened our festival to the whole world and we are hoping to hold on to this online presence in a hybrid set-up in the future. The next Kaboom Animation Festival will take place in spring 2022 in Utrecht, Amsterdam and online. Until then: keep calm and watch animation.
Peter Wassink
Hi and thank you all for a great festival experience,
Although off course nothing beats meeting friends and colleagues irl, i still really enjoyed Kaboom on-line. And actually got to see more films then i typically do.
I have two questions.
Is there a way to see the program? I like to look back at the titles and of the films i saw and can’t seem to find that.
And unfortunately i had to miss the discussion panel about the dominance of the Richard Williams Survival Kit. As an animation teacher this is a topic i have been dealing with for a while, so i thought it was a very timely and interesting choice of talk and now i’m wondering if there is a way to see a recording of this ?
Greetings
Bram Kranendonk
Hi Peter,
Thank you for your message! We are happy to hear you enjoyed Kaboom 2021.
You can find the 2021 program here: https://www.kaboomfestival.nl/program-2021
The ‘Burning the Bible’ talk was part of our Industry Days, and unfortunately there are no recordings of this. For many other talks you can check out our Youtube account: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP7cLlVGk9hlFVAPERlKF9w
Hope to see you next year in real life at Kaboom!
Best wishes,
Team Kaboom Animation Festival
Gijs Grob
Thanks for the amazing festival – that were six very rich days, even if I had to experience them in my own room. I’m curious what the most watched films were in the end.
Kaboom Animation Festival
Hi Gijs,
Very nice to hear you enjoyed the festival! Hopefully next year you won’t have to watch it alone, and we can all be together in the theatre again.
The most watched films were presented on our Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kaboomfestival/posts/2791544714444221 and Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CNRzZA3jv0b/.
Thanks for supporting Kaboom and see you next year!
Best wishes,
Team Kaboom Animation Festival