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3RD KLIK! Amsterdam Animation Festival

KLIK! 2009

The 3RD KLIK! Amsterdam Animation Festival - back, as the organizers say "with a vengeance", will be held from the 17th to  the 20th of September in - yes, you guessed it, Amsterdam.

From a humble but spirited beginning, the festival has blossemed into an International Competition with a separate Student Competition, and will be made up of over 700 films from 50 countries this year.

Alongside the competition programs, the festival will also spotlight the power of animation as an adult art form with 2 special themes:  Political Animation and Erotic Animation.  A special award for the best politically motivated film is also new this year.

American film historian Dennis Nybeck, already familiar to many animation fans on both sides of the Atlantic, will present special programs from his vast collection of vintage films, and a compilation of Brazilian animation will put this year's featured country in the spotlight.

Phil Mulloy, that irrepresssible master of animated black humor, will head the International Competition Jury.  Phil will also give a workshop as well as presenting a retrospective of his impressive body of work.  Following a festival tradition the Student Competition Award winner will be selected by the audience vote.

The KLIK! Festival has its roots in its sister festival the KLIT! Multimedia Festival based in Gent, Belgium, which was organized by animation students at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.  When one of the organizers returned to his Amsterdam roots, he planted the seeds for a sister festival in The Netherlands and KLIK! was born.

The organizer's mission statement on their web site says: "KLIK! sets out to show that animation is the most vital and widespread cultural phenomenon known to man, and we're more than happy to show you!"

I am just trying to tweak the readers' interest because there is so much more going on during the 4 days than what I have written about.  You can get the festival schedule and lots more information by visiting KLIK'S web site:

www.klikamsterdam.nl

you can contact the festival at:

info@klikamsterdam.nl

I have followed the KLIK! festival since its beginning, wishing it success but also hoping that the festival would not lose its irreverant and edgy character along the way.  So far, so good!