Kaboom Animation Festival is a Dutch festival devoted entirely to animation, held each year in Utrecht and Amsterdam with an online programme for viewers in the Netherlands. It was formed in 2019 by the merger of two older events: Holland Animation Film Festival, founded in Utrecht in 1985, and KLIK Amsterdam Animation Festival, first held in 2007. Its competitions take in animated shorts, student films, commissioned work including music videos, animated documentaries, virtual reality and features, with separate awards for Dutch professional and student shorts and audience prizes, one of them chosen by children. Each edition is built around a theme programme, and the Kaboom Industry Days, the Benelux Animation Pitch and Kaboom Distribution serve the professional side.
The 2027 edition runs from 12 to 21 March 2027. The festival is organised by the Kaboom Animation Festival Foundation.
Awards and prizes
All prizes except audience awards are given by a professional external jury. Jury awards: Best Short, Best Student Short, Best VR, Best Dutch Student Short, Best Dutch Professional Short, Best Documentary, the Kaboom Nancy Award and the Kaboom Jamie Bolio Award. Audience awards: Best Short, Best Feature, Best Experimental Short, Best Commissioned Short and the Kids Audience Award. Prize-winning films may be screened in Kaboom's touring programme in the Netherlands during the following year.
Festival rules
Kaboom accepts films, immersive projects and games in any animation technique, finished after 1 January 2025 and not submitted to the festival before. Works must be mostly animated; mixed animation and live action is accepted if the larger part is animated. Shorts may be up to 30 minutes without credits; longer works go to "Other" (30 to 60 minutes, installations, games) or to Animated Features (over 60 minutes). Submission categories: Animated Short, Animated Student Short, Commissioned Animation (including music videos), Animated Documentary, Animated Virtual Reality, Animated Features and Other. There is no entry fee; each filmmaker may submit up to three works. The festival pays no screening fees. Films with dialogue or narration need English subtitles, also when spoken in English. Use of generative AI and the tools used must be declared on entry. Selected films may also be screened on the festival's online platform, geoblocked to the Netherlands. Each selected film receives one festival pass; travel and accommodation are not covered. Submission deadline for the 2027 edition: 5 October 2026.
