In November, the Netherlands will get a new animation festival — or, rather, a reboot of two old ones. The first edition of Kaboom Animation Festival will take place across Utrecht and Amsterdam on November 9–17. As the cities suggest, Kaboom is the merger between KLIK Amsterdam Animation Festival and the Holland Animation Film Festival (HAFF), which used to be held in Utrecht.
Although presented under one banner, the festival’s two halves are shaping up very differently. The Utrecht event (November 9–13) will focus on kids’ animation. A screening of the Korean feature The Satellite Girl and Milk Cow has been confirmed, alongside various activities: “Visitors young and old can come eye to eye with their favourite animated characters… 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.”
In contrast, the Amsterdam segment (November 13–17) will feature a more adult-oriented lineup of shorts and features, including Gints Zilbalodis’s Away and Denis Do’s Funan. Special programs will include a retrospective of Korean animation and a presentation of the upcoming Amazon series Undone, which is co-created by the team behind BoJack Horseman and directed by the veteran Dutch animator Hisko Hulsing.
