When I first heard that KLIK Amsterdam Animation Festival was making the big leap from the student theatre that had been their home for several years to The Eye, a new venue that is a jewel on the Amsterdam waterfront, I was worried that the fun, playful character that has made the festival so delightful would be lost in the posh grandeur of the new cinema museum. I am happy to say that I had nothing to worry about. For the 5th year the energetic KLIK staff put together 5 days worth of excellent screenings along with even more outrageous happenings. An extra bonus was the daily ferry ride from our hotel in the main part of the city to the aptly named Eye, on the opposite bank of the Ij River.
The minute that I walked into the Eye it was apparent that KLIK had not changed, but the Eye might never be the same. Cruising around in the air were a shiver of motorized inflatable sharks (yes, a group of sharks is indeed a shiver). The greeters at the registration desk were handing out KLIKERS, small plastic clickers which are the symbol of the festival that the audience uses to register their approval rather than the usual clapping.
The opening night festivities got underway when as guests were invited to sit on the broad stairway leading from the ground floor to the mezzanine main screening room for a performance by Firma Zwakstroon. The Dutch multi-disciplinary trio incorporated pantomime, music, and animation as they morphed into different shapes and forms, finally ending by disappearing into what seemed like large plastic bubbles.
Once in the screening room we were given a taste of the delights to come over the next few days. For me the highlight of opening night was the premier of Super. Johan Klungel’s long anticipated film, produced by Greg Lawson that took us into the world of a hard core consumer who discovers the dark side of his local supermarket as he is sucked into the seductive world of pretty packages.
Each year KLIK travels to Russia to present a “Best Of” program in several cities. After the screenings the audience votes for their favourite film. During the ceremony Kiekje (Snapshot) by Arthur Merwijk was revealed as the winner. The humorous film about a skinny amateur nature photographer and his very large wife who go to the forest to take pictures, is very funny even if you can’t understand the language.
We also got a preview of the Animated Sequence Project. Dutch animator Arent Benthem, co-owner of studio “in60seconds” asked fellow animators world wide to create 10 seconds of animation using a square. Arent then edited the 300 plus entries into a story. We were treated to a small part of the film. The entire sequence was later shown in the Eye’s arena during the festival.
Following the opening we were invited to celebrate with drinks and nibbles at the mezzanine bar. It was really nice to catch up with old friends over drinks and find out what they were up to. The mezzanine was also the perfect place to get a close-up view of two installations - The Bicycle Animation and Cinemacyclette.
The Bicycle Animation was created by Kathy Beveridge to help audiences understand the direct relationship between film speed and animation. Beveridge fitted a laser cut set of images into the spokes of a stationary bicycle. Visitors could peddle the bike and watch the live video projection of the images on the wall as they peddled. If the bike was peddled at exactly the speed of a hand cranked film (1000 frames per minute) the images were projected as a fluid movie. You can see The Bicycle Animation in action and order lazar cut inserts for your bike at: www.crankmychain.com/
The Cinemacyclette was inspired by Eadward Muybridge’s photographic sequences of the galloping horse and a zoetrope. A bicycle elevated 4 meters above the ground was linked to a carrousel zoetrope containing 40 still frames. Peddling the bike, the movement of the rear wheel put the zoetrope in motion and you could see the picture move through the slits in the carrousel. The Cinemacyclette created by John Treffer looked amazing up close and was equally impressive when seen from the ground floor as it towered above on the mezzanine balcony.
The next day the festival got off to a busy beginning with two symposiums. “There Will Be (Animated) Blood” delved into society’s fascination with violence, the role of violence in animation, and the relationship between humor and violence. The event was curated by American researcher Chris Bell and was made up of 5 hours of talks, films, and debate with such noted professionals as American Culture Professor Brian Dunphy, film psychologist Ed Tan, and animators Evert de Beijer, Junaid Chundrigar, and Davor Bujakovic. Running parallel to the symposium was a day long program devoted to the Dutch animation industry.
In another screening room you could get a hardy dose of short animation with the first 3 programs of the 5 International Competitions and all 3 of the Student Competitions, if you had the stamina for 10 hours of straight viewing. For those with a less sturdy constitution it was still possible to see all 8 competition screenings over the course of several days.
On Friday the Master Classes continued through the morning and afternoon. With topics ranging from “T3-D Revolution” to “3 Steps to Becoming an Online Sensation” there was something of interest for everyone in the animation industry. I opted to attend “Scrip Dating” at Mooves Studio, a short bus ride from the festival. Mooves Studio is the prestigious independent animation production studio run by Jantiene de Kroon, Remco Polman, and Wilfred Ottenheijon. The afternoon workshop was designed to give scenarists and animators the opportunity to present their projects and receive comments from the other participants and professional dramatists Jantiene de Kroon and Matthew Curlewis.
We broke into 2 groups and set to work taking turns presenting our scripts which were in various stages of completion. After each person spoke we all had an opportunity to comment and then Matthew, our group leader, added his ideas and summed up the comments. I can’t speak for the other members of the group but I feel that the session was a great help to me. After 4 hours of serious discussion both groups adjourned to the kitchen for informal conversation over beer and wine.
South Park and KLIK are a match made in heaven. The South Park extravaganza got off to a start with the documentary 6 Days to Air: The Making of South Park. The film gave a behind the scenes peek into the professional lives of Trey Parker and Matt Stone during the making of the Humancent iPad episode. American academic and South Park expert Brian Dunphy who was an expert advisor on the documentary was on hand to answer questions from the audience.
One of the most fun events all week was the South Park Tribute Night and Sing Along, hosted by Chris Bell, staff member of the KLIK Festival. If there is one thing better than watching South Park, it’s enjoying it with other fans as we all swear along. KLIK knows that animators and journalists are not shy when given an audience and we were only too happy to share our favourite South Park moments, clips, and songs.
I was honoured to be asked to be one of the illustrious group invited to participate. “Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo” has always been close to my heart so I instructed the audience on how to make their own Mr. Hankie, or better yet to give as a special present to that special person for the holidays. I ended by leading the audience in the Mr. Hankey song. The South Park Tribute Night was a very raucous event that resulted in several people losing their voices.
Adventure Time with Cartoon Network gave us another chance for riotous laughter with some of our favourite misadventures. Cartoon Network generously gave the festival a couple of cartons of Finn and Jake hats. Everyone who came to Adventure Time could choose a hat. I have been happily wearing my warm bright yellow Jake hat ever since and it always brings smiles wherever I go. Just in case we hadn’t had enough Cartoon Network yet, the next day we could watch a program of Adult Swim favorites.
Of course KLIK did have serious moments. It was fascinating to watch the documentary De Duivendrechtse Disney about the beginnings of the Dutch animation studio Geesink –Toonbder Terkenfilm Productie in 1942. Founded in the small Dutch town of Duivendrecht, Martin Toonder and Joop Geesink were able to keep hundreds of draftsmen and animators working. Ultimately the partnership collapsed as Toonder became interested in producing cartoons while Geesink wanted to create puppet animation. The film used interviews with former employees and film clips to tell the story of this important chapter in the history of Dutch animation.
An exhibition of William Kentridge’s Black Box/Chambre Noire was organized in conjunction with the Jewish Historical Museum. The Black Box is a mechanical theatre in which six clockwork figures perform against a projected background of animated charcoal paintings. The images deal with German colonialism in 1904 Africa. Along with the theatre piece, fifty drawings Kentridge made during the creation of the Black Box project were on exhibition. The short trek to the Jewish Historical Museum was well worth the effort.
The Animated Works of William Kentridge was the perfect accompaniment to the Black Box exhibition. The internationally acclaimed multi-disciplinary South African artist has used animation to denounce apartheid in his country during the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. Along with 6 of his insightful commentaries on South African society Journey to the Moon Kentridge’s homage to Georges Melies was also shown.
The Adventures of Prince Achmed is one of the great classic films of animation. German animator Lotte Reiniger created the first European feature film using a cut out silhouette technique similar to Balanese shadow puppets. Based on the classic Arabian fairy tales One Hundred and One Nights, the 1926 silent film was accompanied by live music performed by the Sonja van Hamel Trio.This special presentation was made possible at KLIK in cooperation with the Eye.
3-D animation has become commonplace in animated features and now it is coming into its own in shorts too as the 3-D Stereoscopic Animated Shorts Competition proved. The 9 films in the program covered a wide range of topics. Miss Daisy Cutter by Laen Sanches from France was described in the catalogue as “what would have happened if Walt Disney took some bad acid”. The jury selected Italian/German Florian Werzinski’s Luigi’s Pizza Ride as the best 3-D animation. The wacky tale of a pizza delivery boy who leads the police on a wild goose chase as he makes his deliveries definitely used 3-D to full advantage.
The jury bestowed the Best Political Animated Short statute on Roman Klochkov from Gent, Belgium for his black humor treatment of illegal immigrants. I was very pleased with their decision as Roman is a good friend and I appreciate his very sardonic sense of humor that always comes through in his films.
For the younger set there were 2 KLIK for Kids screenings. The first program showed a selection of films from all over the world for children 6 years old and their parents. The second program, designed for 8 year olds, showed 5 films that were longer and had more complicated stories.
A special treat was the two live voice over artists who provided the Dutch dialogue for foreign language films such as The Gruffalo’s Child” by German animators Johannes Weiland and Uwe Heidschotter. The young members at these two screenings voted for the Young Amsterdam Audiance Award and I was not at all surprised that they selected The Gruffalo’s Child, the delightful sequel to The Gruffalo.
After being inspired by the films, young animators could create their own animations. Two professional animators were on hand to help cut cardboard and wield hot glue guns but the ideas all came from the young animators. The older kids at heart could all get into the act at the Cardboard Animation Workshop where also sorts of fantastic cardboard creations of all shapes and sizes were constructed.
My favourite KLIK tradition is the boat trip. For 2 lovely hours the festival guests relaxed on a long boat cruising the Amsterdam canals. Everyone had been so busy at the festival that this was a wonderful opportunity to have conversations over wine, beer, and delicious nibbles. As everyone who reads my articles knows, I love boats, and the traditional Dutch long boats are no exception. The canal trip gives you a glimpse at the beautiful flowers and architecture normally hidden from view and gives a glimpse of Amsterdam that you can’t see any other way.
I found time to make a trip to the Amsterdam Floating Flower Market. Stall after stall built out over the canal were brimmed full of baskets of every color and variety of tulip bulbs in the world. There were many other flower bulbs and plants for sale but the undisputed star of the show were the tulips. Anyone planning a trip to Amsterdam should be sure to visit the floating flower market. It was wonderful in November and I can only imagine how spectacular it must be in the spring.
Saturday evening the Award Ceremony was held. This year the International Jury who watched the International Shorts and 3-D competitions was composed of noted producer (The Triplettes of Belleville among other films) Viviane Van Fleteren, film critic Andre Waardenburg, and Alexander Lentjes, 3-D specialist.
The members selecting Student, For Hire, and Political awards were Andrea Bauer, Senior Programer of the Trickfilm Festival in Stuttgart, Germany; producer and 3-D specialist Bobby de Groot; and Sven Gerrets, writer and director. A complete list of all award winning films is at the end of this article.
All day there had been a flurry of activity on the mezzanine level at the Cardboard Robot Workshop and after the Award Ceremony we all got the chance to see the results of their hard work. To the beat of the band Nobody Beats the Drum, a mass of human cardboard robots swarmed down the wide main staircase and into the Eye Arena for the Cardboard Robot Dance Off. While the esteemed jury was trying to select the winning dancer, the entire dance quickly evolved into a full fledge robot fight. In true KLIK fashion cardboard heads, arms, and swords were soon flying all over and the audience became part of the fun. I had to fight off the flying body parts and mutated robots who were pulling observers on to the dance floor. The Eye will never be the same.
Meanwhile Studio 2 came alive with rock n’ roll courtesy of DJ Brother Boogaloo. As good old ‘50s and ‘60s classics spun and couples took to the dance floor the Dutch video duo VJ Glitterende Eenhoorn and Menah drew eerie pictures that were projected onto the movie screen. Their drawings were based on audience answers to the pair’s question “What happened in your favourite violent film scene?”
The 2 parties were the perfect end to a bloody fun filled festival, but at the end of the evening in true KLIK fashion it wasn’t time to say bye yet.
Sunday there was still a full day of screenings. Aside from the 2 children’s’ programs there was Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. The screening featured such all time favourites as Super Jail: Gay Marriage and Moral Oral: Be Fruitful and Multiply. They illustrated why Adult Swim has become such a big hit on American TV. Since its inception in 2001 it has continued to develop ground breaking animated series’ for adult audiences.
Emerging Animation Countries gave the audience the opportunity to discover animation from countries that are just beginning to appear on the International animation scene. Many of these countries have no animation schools or industry and the animators are often self taught but it is important that their works are shown. Work from Columbia, Ecuador or Ethiopia cannot be juried by the same standards as countries that have a long rich animation tradition but it is important for festivals to screen these works in special programs.
My personal treat on Sunday was to take Nik to see Ernest Et Celestine, the delightful French film by Benjamin Renner, Vincent Patar, and Stephane. I had already seen this charming feature film about the orphan mouse Celestine and Ernest the bear and I enjoyed it just as much the second time. This story of two loners overcoming all odds and prejudices to become friends is beautifully told in a lovely hand drawn style with soft, warm watercolours. Unlike most animated features made today this is a sweet, simple film that is sure to have you walking out of the theatre smiling.
Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. The Sunday night Closing Ceremony was a chance to relive some high points of the week. The Young Amsterdam Audience Award was announced and the films made in the workshops were presented. The evening ended with a screening of the Best of Klik2012.
My love affair with KLIK began when I was invited to be on the jury of the 3rd edition of the festival several years ago. I have followed their progress with great interest and this year I was delighted when they invited me to come to Amsterdam for a week to be part of the selection committee which was an awesome task since they received almost 1,200 films from 71 countries.
I owe a big thank you my red headed sister Yvonne Van Ulden, Festival Managing Director, Assistant Director Tunde Vollenbroke, Lucy Van Kleef who is part of the hospitality team, and fellow journalist and festival programmer Luuk Van Huet for all of their many kindnesses to Nik and me, none the least of which was the beautiful hotel room they provided for us. A big bow also goes to all of the hard working staff and volunteers who were always there to help. This is a festival who knows how to do it right and I encourage anyone lucky enough to be invited to attend next year to accept. I already have it on my calendar and will be there for sure!
You can find out more about KLIK at www.klikamsterdam.nl/
After KLIK actually had a couple months at home to enjoy cooking, writing, and enjoying the holidays. In the next few days I am off to Brussels for 10 days at ANIM Brussels and I am definitely ready to be back in the theatre watching animation.
KLIK! Amsterdam Audience Award
Junkyard, Hisko Hulsing, The Netherlands, 2012
KLIK! Award for Best Animated Short
Oh Willy..., Emma de Swaef & Marc James Roels, Belgium & The Netherlands, 2012
KLIK! Award for Best Animated Student Short
Winner: Bottle, Kristen Lepore, Calarts, United States, 2012
Honorable mention: Space Stallions, Thorvaldur Gunnarsson, The Animation Workshop, Denmark, 2012
KLIK! Nintendo Award for Best 3-D Stereoscopic Animated Short
Luigi's Pizzaride, Florian Werzinski, Germany & Italy, 2011
KLIK! Award for Best Commissioned Animation
Metamorphosis, Buck, Good Books, United States, 2012
KLIK! Award for Best Political Animated Short
Winner: Natasha, Roman Klochkov, Belgium, 2012
Honorable mention: Farmer Jack, Arjan Wilschut, The Netherlands & Ireland & Belgium, 2012
