Children Film festival Cinekid 2024 kicks off in Amsterdam

The Cinekid children's film festival opens on Sunday afternoon in Amsterdam with the world premiere of the Dutch animated film Victor Vleermuis. The film will be shown for the first time in Pathé Amsterdam-Noord in the presence of the cast and crew. Victor Vleermuis is the new project by director Patrick Raats, who previously made the successful Woezel & Pip series.

The film is about the sensitive and musical bat Victor who is bullied by his family because he is afraid of the dark. When he also falls in love with a bird, the sworn enemy of bats, he is completely an outcast. But love helps him to eventually overcome his fear and stand up for who he is. Voices are provided by Soy Kroon, Stephanie van Eer, and Fedja van Huêt.

Over 40 cinemas throughout the country will be showing films until Sunday 3 November as part of Cinekid Festival 2024, which claims to be the world's largest film and media festival for children. Apart from the opening film, the activities in Amsterdam will not start until Saturday 26 October. This is because the autumn holiday in the capital starts later than in other parts of the Netherlands.

This year, Cinekid will also show the new short film by the director trio Job, Joris, and Marieke. In the three-minute Quotum, every world citizen is required to take an app that keeps track of his or her CO2 emissions. This makes little impression until it becomes clear what happens when someone has reached his or her quota. Carice van Houten has provided the voice of the app.

The aim of the festival is to use films to inspire all children in the Netherlands and help them to connect with themselves and others, because “high-quality films and media are an essential tool for maintaining children's natural curiosity and openness to the world,” according to the organizers. Furthermore, Cinekid believes that films give children a better understanding of the issues they may face as individuals and members of society.