There’s a new film festival in town

After months of preparation and anticipation, KLIK and HAFF in Utrecht are excited to release the new name of their collaborative efforts: Kaboom Animation Festival.

Kaboom Animation Festival will take place from 9 to 17 November in Utrecht and Amsterdam. The programme in Utrecht will focus exclusively on animation for kids and families. The programming in Amsterdam, on the other hand, will showcase a wide variety of the latest and greatest animation for adults and a special focus on industry events.

We will kick off celebrations on November 9 with five days of colourful, family oriented programming in various locations in Utrecht. Visitors young and old can come eye to eye with their favourite animated characters – like Shaun the Sheep, Wallace & Gromit and Ella, Oscar & Hoo – and watch many films that will only be shown in Utrecht. Dive into the worlds of the Korean story of The Satellite Girl and Milk Cow (Hyeong-yoon Chang, 2014, ‘81), build an animated world in three days or go on an expedition with the whole family to record the sounds of Utrecht. Little as well as full-grown explorers can delve into our Exploration Station and workshops for different age groups. Additionally, we will organise the Netherlands’ first ever Young Industry Day in Utrecht. Don’t miss out on your chance to meet fresh animation talent from art schools in The Netherlands.

On November 13 we will move the show to the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam, where we continue celebrating all things animated. We will show the best animated shorts competing for our awards, we will binge our new favourite Amazon series Undone (Hisko Hulsing, 2019), listen to stories about disastrous animation projects during the Night of Shame, celebrate 100 years of Dutch animation and dive into Korean animation films – vintage as well as contemporary. Get ready for premieres, industry events, international speakers, award shows, exhibitions, parties and much more. First confirmed features include Funan (Denis Do, 2018, 88’), a moving story of bravery and sacrifice in the face of unspeakable times, and Away (Gints Zilbalodis, 2019, 74’), which was made by a 25-year-old Latvian animator all by himself. This Annecy winner is a hypnotic story about a young man traveling through an unknown world. We are also super excited to confirm our first speaker: Mike Hollingsworth, supervising director of BoJack Horseman.

Kaboom in Utrecht
Dates: 9 – 13 November
Locations: Louis Hartlooper Complex, Het Huis Utrecht, Kinepolis, Het Utrechts Archief, Utrecht Library, (more TBA)

Kaboom in Amsterdam
Dates: 13 – 17 November
Locations: Het Ketelhuis & Machinegebouw on Westergasterrein

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