Kaboom Animation Festival does indeed have a split personality.
A FESTIVAL WITH A SPLIT PERSONALITY
Kaboom Animation Festival does indeed have a split personality. From the 21st to the 24th of March it took place in Utrecht, then packed up and moved 49 kilometers to Amsterdam for another four days from the 27th to the 30th of March. Unfortunately, Nik and I couldn’t attend the Utrecht section and could not arrive in Amsterdam until Friday evening when the festival was in full swing. Earlier that week had to attend the Monstra Festival and flew straight from Monstra in Lisbon to Amsterdam.
The Kaboom festival is synonymous with fun, but the festival has a very serious side to it as well. This year’s festival theme was Provocation. With what is going on in the world, many of us are feeling the need for resistance. Amsterdam and Kaboom are the right places to celebrate provocation because 2025 is the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Provos. This Amsterdam-based counter-culture movement later spread to other cities in the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Italy, and even the United States.
Three feature films exemplified the theme perfectly. The 2007 classic Persepolis, based on Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novel of the same name, is a poignant portrait of a young girl growing up in 1970s Iran. Like the novel, the film follows her struggle to escape the religious fundamentalism and extremism that had engulfed her homeland.
The second feature film, Regretting Motherhood by Milou Graves from the Netherlands (2024) is an animated documentary inspired by sociologist Orna Donath’s book of the same name. It poses the question “What if you love your children, but struggle with being a mother?” Using the anonymity puppet animation affords, three courageous women share their deeply personal struggles with motherhood. They speak frankly about the shame and guilt that they feel and the pressures society places on them to be a “perfect mother”. They are not bad mothers, just unhappy mothers. I believe these three women speak for many mothers who dare not speak openly.
If you are not ready to take to the streets, protest sign in hand and shouting after these two films, Belladonna of Sadness should finish the job. The 1973 classic manga by Osamu Tezuka is one of the most beautifully animated, extremely disturbing, provocative and visually stunning animated films ever created.
Set in medieval France, the story revolves around a beautiful young peasant woman who is brutally gang raped by the local lord and his courtiers on her wedding night. To take revenge, she makes a Faustian pact with the Devil who appears as an erotic spirit and transforms her into a black-robed vision of madness and desire. Words cannot really convey the impact of this film. Watching it is a very uncomfortable 1 hour and 35 minutes but you cannot take your eyes off of the screen either. There were also five short film programs to make sure that you stayed provoked throughout the festival.
On a much lighter note, and after Belladonna of Sadness almost any film is a lighter note, there is Lesbian Space Princess. I am a reviewer for Kaboom’s selection process and so I watched the film in my living room. I couldn’t stop laughing; in the 90-minute film an introverted princess, the daughter of the lesbian Queens of the Planet Clitopolis, is forced to leave her sheltered life and is thrust into a galactic quest to save her bounty hunter ex-girlfriend, who she still loves, from the Straight White Maliens. As if the story isn’t enough on its own, the film is also a musical.
Lesbian Space Princess is the debut film by Australian writer/directors Emma Houghton Hobbs and Leela Varghese. The film premiered at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival where it won The Teddy Award. This prestigious award honors and celebrates LGBTQ films and filmmakers. If you need to stop thinking about what is going on in the world and take a little break from it all go see Lesbian Space Princess. It may not be high art but it is laugh out loud funny, sweet, and extremely colorful fun.
Belgium, the Netherlands’ neighbor to the south, was the country spotlighted this year. Emma de Swaef and Mark Roel’s 2018 stop-motion film This Magnificant Cake was part of the Belgian celebration. The 44-minute film is a five-part anthology following several different characters into the legendary “Heart of Darkness” as 19th Century Africa was called. It explores the abuses and dark history of King Leopold II and Belgium in the Congo from rubber plantations to slaves. The title of the film was originated by King Leopold II about Africa as “that magnificent cake”, symbolizing the vast wealth of the continent and his intentions to acquire a large share of it during the period of imperialism and the scramble by European nations to divide the continent up. The felt puppet animation film is indeed magnificent and the sets are beautifully constructed.
Showing with This Magnificant Cake was Far Away Lands by Frédéric Hainaut and Olivier Coufer. The 20-minute film has its roots in a bicycle trip across the Congo that Coufer took. What he saw on his trip upset him greatly. In 2014 and 2017 he took Hainaut there. The pair visited villages that Westerners had not visited for years, giving them the feeling of being privileged witnesses, entrusted with the mission to share their impressions, observations, encounters, and the voice of the Congolese people.
The result of these trips is Far Away Lands. The film is the story of Paul, who runs a grain mill in the heart of the Democratic Republic of Congo. One morning he wakes up with a fever but still he goes to work grinding grain. When the machine’s transmission belt breaks, he sends his helper to a nearby town to get a new belt. While the helper is away Paul ends up in the hospital delirious, where we follow him as he talks about faraway lands in his feverish state. There were also three programs of Belgian short films.
American visual artist and filmmaker Martha Colburn was slated to be at the festival. Unfortunately, she was not able to leave the United States but in conjunction with the festival, a major exhibition of her work was on display at Dat Bolwerck Gallery. The exhibition, titled Stop, Action, Vision, included a selection of her films, as well as her new video work.
In keeping with the festival theme of Provocation, her latest paintings incorporate unsettling news headlines from recent years, fragments from her life, and playful interpretations of iconic images. Known for her biting commentary on the state of the world and America in particular, Martha uses a skull, a tank, or a ballerina in a balaclava among other things to get her messages across. If a picture says more than words, her image of jagged female genitalia sewn into the American flag says it all.
Anime legend Masaaki Yuasa was a festival guest this year. His world is colorful, eccentric, unhinged and frenetic. When he burst upon the scene in 2004 with Mind Game many people didn’t know what to make of the film. When you read a description of the plot all you can do is scratch your head.
Nishi, a slacker, is totally devoted to Myon, the girl he had a childhood crush on, but she is engaged to someone else. When Myon is threatened by a pair of Yakuza gangsters, Nishi’s attempt to rescue her gets him shot through the anus and he dies. But a little matter of being dead doesn’t stop Nishi as he tumbles through limbo, rebirth, and a high-speed car chase. Nishi and Myon eventually go on to be swallowed by a giant whale. While trapped inside the whale’s belly for 30 years, Nishi practices writing and drawing manga and Myon practices swimming. They also rediscover their love for each other. “This Story Has Never Ended” appears before the credit roll. This is far from the entire story but it gives you an idea of the bizarre nature of his films.
You could also spend a day binge-watching four of his feature films. At 15:30 (3:30) you could have watched Mind Game, followed by Night Is Short, Walk On Girl, which takes you on an alcohol-induced night in the life of an unknown girl on the streets of Kyoto at 18:30 (6:30). Then at 20:45 (8:45) Ride Your Wave, an easy to love portrait of love and loss. It is the most accessible film Yuasa has made and a good film to start with if you’re going to watch all of his work. And finally, at 23:00 (11:00) Yuasa’s amazing medieval rock opera Inu-Oh.
I have had several Festival book presentations for my new book, ON THE ANIMATION TRAIL, 20 Years Of Animation Festival History but nobody has done it quite like Kaboom. The festival staged “Nancy’s Winter Picnic” at the Kaboom Café inside the Eye. They recreated the annual picnic that Nik and I have hosted annually at Annecy for over 20 years. Using the same invitation that we send out every year, they put down Astroturf for the picnic blankets and it really did feel like our picnic. Since it was a “winter picnic” and inside at The Eye, there were no paddle boat races or rounders game, but some people did bring food. The festival also provided lots of delicious goodies to eat. 
Anna Eijbouts interviewed Nik and me while people ate, drank, and listened. Along the way, we showed a delightfully funny video by Joanna Quinn about creating the front and back covers for my book and also a teaser video that German animated documentary maker Katrin Rothe (Johnny and Me, 2023) has made about Nik and me. I also read a short piece from my book.
To end the interview, we screened Nancy Spectacle(s), a 2-minute 57-second film made by South African animator Diek Grobler and I from photographs taken by Nik. Then it was time to sign books. I am happy to say that we went home with the empty box that we had brought full of books to Amsterdam. Thank you Kaboom from the bottom of my heart for the wonderful picnic that you created for Nik and me!
At the Kaboom Awards Ceremony, I have had the honor for several years to give the Nancy Award to any film in competition that I want. It is never an easy decision. Some years one film stands out immediately but this year I had a very difficult time narrowing it down to just one film. After much going back and forth in my head, I finally narrowed it down to Hungarian director Laszlo Csaki’s Pelikan Blue.
I have written about this film in a previous article so I won’t go into detail here. I think my presentation speech at the Awards Ceremony says it all in a nutshell. I said “Animated Documentaries can record little-known or forgotten events in history. My award goes to a film about such an event.
In the 1990’s Hungary tore a hole in the Iron Curtain and people were allowed to travel by train to the West. But many, especially young people, couldn’t afford the high ticket prices.
This film is the story of three young men who discovered an ingenious but highly illegal solution that allowed a generation to travel abroad affordably. My award goes to Laszlo Caski for Pelikan Blue.
Laszlo received an award statue just like the rest of the winners as well as an invitation to go wine tasting with me at next year’s festival.
Of course, there was a party after the ceremony, but the fun wasn’t over after the party. The next day, Sunday was another day of frivolity. First was the Animation Pub Quiz. It was presided over by the festival’s resident animation whizzes, Roloff de Jeu and Maarten van Gageldonk who put together very obscure clues to try to stump the teams. Our team was ready to act up, shout out and provoke at the drop of a question. We had cardboard master and chief rabble-rouser Mathijs Stegink on our team and he came to the quiz fully prepared with protest signs and a long cardboard hand on a stick to reach the buzzer on the center of the stage from our front row seats.
Two years ago our team won the quiz but even with all of Mathijs’ protesting, we only came in second this year.
Following the pop quiz, vintage film collector Roloff de Jeu changed into his safety vest, and hard hat, and hoisted a bullhorn to introduce Danger! Better Safe Than Sorry. Curated from Roloff’s vast film library, the program was a cacophony of educational and informational films. Ranging from the 1950’s through the 1970s the educational films covered such hazards as I Am Joe’s Lung, a lung telling us what smoking was doing to it and I Am No Fool With Having Fun which warned us about partying too hardily. I thought that I would never have to see another one of these hilarious instructional films after I got out of high school. The entire one-and-a-half-hour program was made even funnier by Roloff’s off-the-wall introductions to the film and his admonishments to the audience through his bullhorn to stay safe. I certainly felt safer after watching those films!
The Utrecht segment is much more sedate than the Amsterdam festival. Although there are screenings the main focus is on Dutch Industry Days. The first day kicked off with Kaboom Camp which is where young talent and new voices get center stage.
First up was a keynote address by the award-winning British director and writer Sophie Koko Gate (Half Wet – 2015, Slug Life – 2018). Her work lies somewhere between experimental and mainstream animation. One very important point in her talk for young animators to hear was how to balance working commercially and independently in the industry. Sophie created this year’s striking Kaboom Festival poster.
A preselected group of up-and-coming Dutch animators had the opportunity to present their portfolios and get feedback on their work from various members of studios in The Netherlands.
A highlight of the day was the screening of the Best Show Reels. At the show selected graduates from Netherland’s schools showed their work on the big screen. You could also snuggle up next to someone in the two-person photo booth and watch the showreels of the ten selected graduates in the intimate mobile cinema.
The full day ended with a party, The Debutant’s Ball. Along with drinks, dancing, and networking the winner of the Best Show Reel was announced. The contest, sponsored by Toonboom Animation was won by Ilja Bertrand. Max Gierkirk placed second. They were awarded Harmony and Storyboard Pro licenses.
Day Two was devoted to professional animators with industry meetings, a preview of Dutch films in production or recently completed was also offered. The big event of the day was the Benelux Animation Pitching session. Ten projects from The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg were presented.
The winning pitch was given by Guido Duijn for his project Dog Fight. He received 5000 Euros. On selecting the winner, the jury said “The pitch stood out for its clear and sensitive personal story that remains relatable to a wide audience”. The film is a joint project from The Netherlands and Denmark.
Although our visit to Kaboom was far too short we packed a lot into two days, saw some great animation, and caught up with many good friends. A big thank you goes out to festival co-directors Aneta Ozorek and Annabet Langkamp for inviting us to be part of Kaboom and especially for creating The Nancy Award. A special thank you goes to Maarten van Gageldonk, Festival Head Programer, who I enjoy working with all year as a film reviewer for the festival. Maarten came up with the idea for Nancy’s Picnic and gave me a lovely introduction at the book picnic/ interview. Also, to Carla Navarro for arranging our transportation and hotel and last but not least, to all of the volunteers who are always there to help in any way that they can.
The dates for the 2026 edition of Kaboom are 13 to 22 March 2026.
You can learn more about the Kaboom Animation Festival at: www.kaboomfestival.nl
2025 WINNING FILMS
Best VR: Barry Gene Murphy, May Abdalla - Project: Impulse: Playing with Reality
Nancy Award: László Csáki - Film: Pelikan Blue
Best Documentary: - Derya Durmaz - Film: Will You Come With Me?
Short Films
Best International Short: - Raphaël Jouzeau - Film: Scars We Love
Best International Short Special Mention: - Alexey Evstigneev - Film: Father’s Letters
Best Dutch Short: - Marten Visser - Film: Skroll
Jamie Bolio Award: - Ted Wiggin - Film: MIMT
Student Films
Best Student Short: - Xiaoxuan Han - Film: The Shortest Relationship in the World
Special Mention: - Juliette Ragot - Film: A Blue Summer
Best Dutch Student Short: - Naomi Noir - Film: Mother’s Child
Special Mention: Marvin Hauck - Film: States of Matter
Special Mention: - Eddy Wu - Film: Immature
AUDIENCE AWARDS
Best Experimental Film: Anu-Laura Tuttelberg - Film: On Weary Wings
Best Short Film: Raphaël Jouzeau - Film: Scars We Love
Best Kids Film: Ignas Meilunas - Film: Hoofs on Skates
Best Feature Film: Léonard Cohen - Film: Flavors of Iraq
Best Commissioned Film: Studio Mals, Setreset Films, Koen Berkhout, Martin van der Molen, Silas Nout - Film: Group Session
