5 Curator's Picks From the KLIK! Amsterdam Animation Festival

This week Amsterdam will be gearing up for the KLIK! Animation Festival 2015, a festival that celebrates the best international animation. For six days, from October 27 until November 1, you can check out premieres of the best new animated films, see making-ofs, and visit master classes by animation legends including PES and Disney’s EFX-supervisor Eric Daniels (Frozen, Tangled).

Since this year’s program is so packed with beautiful animations, we asked curator Yvonne van Ulden to give us some must-see-tips, complete with a short explanation of what makes these films so remarkable.

WORLD OF TOMORROW from don hertzfeldt on Vimeo.

Yvonne van Ulden: A fantastic philosophical piece that stands out in this year's catch, about a little girl that is taken on a mind-bending tour of her distant future. With a strong script and very few lines, director Don Hertzfeldt makes you think about the bigger and the smaller things in life. With some of the dialogue improvised by an actual toddler, the short's evocation of childhood wonder is not just lifelike, but truly magical. Winner of 20 awards, including the Grand Jury Prize for Short Film at Sundance Film Festival in 2015.

Mind-boggling director Maasaki Yuasa was asked to direct an episode for the ground-breaking tv-series Adventure Time in his own style. Famous television series often invite remarkable filmmakers who have a unique style. This year, KLIK!’s screening two of such special productions in our program, Animation for Hire. Aside from a super-trippy Adventure Time episode, we’re bringing you a Simpsons couch gag by Sylvain Chomet, the director of the French classic Les triplettes de Belleville.

Making The Eagleman Stag from Mikey Please on Vimeo.

An intriguing making-of that reveals the craftsmanship and intricate details that go into stop-motion animation. This film aligns with this year’s theme, "Rock, Paper, Scissors," in which we highlight the current renewed interest in real materials and craftsmanship, both in 2D and 3D animation.

Under The Apple Tree (2015) - Official trailer from Erik van Schaaik on Vimeo.

This 18-minute stop-motion film by Erik van Schaaik recently won the Golden Calf Award for Best Short Film at the Nederlands Film Festival. Made with incredible eye for detail, this comical horror film tells the tale of worms, apples, and two brothers whose relationship is based on hate and death.

Based on Gibran’s timeless poetry, Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet is a boldly designed cinematic adventure about freedom and the power of human expression. This long-awaited feature was directed by Roger Allers (director of The Lion King) and produced by Salma Hayek, each verse animated by a different filmmaker, including Tomm Moore (The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea), Bill Plympton (Guide Dog), Joan Gratz (Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase), Nina Paley (Sita Sings the Blues), and other award-winning animators from around the globe.

KLIK! Animation Festival takes place from October 27 through November 1 in Amsterdam. Visit the website for more information, programming, and tickets.

A version of this article originally appeared on The Creators Project Netherlands. 

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