Cinekid Festival turns 40, but your kid gets the starring role
Your little one's standing in front of a glove covered in paperclips, listening like it's a real tiger growling. No film clip, just a foley artist at Pathé Amsterdam Noord showing how film sound actually gets made, live. That's the idea behind the fortieth edition of Cinekid Festival, built this year around the theme "Celebrating Together": your little ones don't just watch film, they learn from the people who make it. A stunt performer showing off a real film stunt, a grime artist with fake blood and plastic noses: there's a genuine pro running the show everywhere you look.
Cinekid runs at over forty cinemas across the country this year. We're zooming in on six of them: October 10 through 16 in Amsterdam, Haarlem, Groningen and Enschede, October 17 through 25 in Rotterdam and Nijmegen. That follows the regional autumn break, itself split across two weeks this year, just like the festival.
First, the big screen: a few films worth sitting still for
Happy Birthday follows eight-year-old Toha, a maid for a wealthy family in Cairo, who ends up organizing the household's daughter's birthday party while never having celebrated her own. Rated 9+, screening multiple times between October 10 and 16. This year's festival opener is KABAM!, an Emmy-winning series about classmates tackling their fears, from the dentist to stage fright, with a generous dose of imagination. Rated 4+, screening on multiple days. Would rather sing than sit quietly? At Ja Zuster, Nee Zuster: Singalong! you belt out the songs from the classic on October 16, suitable for all ages. Not quite awake yet? At Pyjamabios on October 12 you roll straight from your pajamas into a cinema seat, with a breakfast box included and a surprise film that stays secret until the lights go down.
Then there's the hands-on program, which is really what we're here for.
Amsterdam: your kid gets the starring role
At Pathé Amsterdam Noord, you never just watch. At Villain of Villains, a real stunt performer shows you the ropes first, before the action scenes on screen suddenly feel completely different. At Miss Moxy, there's a recording studio set up for voice acting, and at Stitch Head + Film Sound you dive into the world of foley with an actual foley artist. The tiniest moviegoers draw to their hearts' content at the Drawing Party, complete with edible drawings as a bonus. The MediaLab sits on the third floor, a world apart from the cinema halls, 1,000 square meters this year and hosted here for the sixth year running, with AI, VR and games. Getting in requires a valid same-day film ticket, plus an extra ticket on top of that.
Rotterdam: saving nature together with a robot owl
At LantarenVenster, you book a 75-minute slot for the MediaLab, no film ticket attached. At Bakkus the Story Devourer, you help finish a story, and Bakkus spins it into a different funny tale every time. At Time Garden, you step into a VR greenhouse set in the distant future and team up with a robot owl to restore nature, and at Wonder World you design your own little piece of city with colored scraps, which an AI mayor then brings digitally to life. Prefer a film instead? De Grote Droom screens here on October 19 with live piano music, and after Stitch Head on October 20 you can try your hand as a special effects makeup artist.
Groningen: vampire teeth and a drone that scores
Forum Groningen lets you book each workshop separately, no film ticket needed, a different one every day: Drone Soccer, Vlogging, Sound Design, Flipbook Factory (led by illustrator Jan-Willem Spakman) and Film Grime. At the last one, a real grime artist guides you through fake blood and plastic noses, and you walk out with a face your teacher probably won't recognize the next morning. Separately, there's a day ticket for Cinekid Lab or the VR Cinema, neither one requiring a film.
Haarlem: feel free to drop by
De Schuur throws open the MediaLab doors all day, no entry fee, no film ticket. At Robokoppies, your kid steers a stubborn robot through a course, and at the time capsule you fill out a questionnaire together, with a lock of hair and a fingerprint for your kid ten years from now.
Nijmegen: looks behind the scenes
LUX Nijmegen bundles workshop and film into one ticket: Voice Acting at The Magic Jungle, guided by professional dubbing actors, Fashion Filter Factory, or the Glitter & Glamour special with a red carpet moment. At the projection booth tour, inside the largest cinema in Europe, parents often hang back a little while the kids lead the way, eager to touch every button.
Enschede puts out the fire
In Enschede, almost everything at Concordia is free: a Do It Yourself table you can drop into all week, The Magic Carpet Ride with five interactive rugs, and Proefkonijnen in Virtual Reality, where your kid puts out a virtual fire, something that's trickier to pull off with a real extinguisher.
Frequently asked questions about Cinekid Festival
Do you need a film ticket for the MediaLab?
In Amsterdam, yes, plus a separate ticket on top. In Rotterdam, Haarlem, Groningen and Enschede, no.
What age is Cinekid Festival for?
Generally 4 to 14, with its own age guideline per workshop and film, from toddlers at the Drawing Party to nine-plus kids at Villain of Villains and Happy Birthday.
Which cities host Cinekid Festival?
Amsterdam, Haarlem, Groningen and Enschede run October 10 to 16, Rotterdam and Nijmegen October 17 to 25, six of the more than forty participating cinemas.
We're mainly highlighting the workshops, the MediaLab and a couple of films here. The full Cinekid lineup we've pulled together for you lives in our overview and you can find the full Cinekid program here.