Cinekid

Cinekid is the world’s largest film, television and new media festival for children aged 4 to 14. The festival was founded in 1986. It takes place every fall in the capital of the Netherlands, Amsterdam, during the school holidays.

Originally, Cinekid was just a modest children’s film festival. Over the years, it has expanded to become a large organization that hosts various events and activities dedicated to the media industry throughout the year. The Cinekid festival is the flagship event held by the Cinekid Foundation. Along with the festival, the organization’s core activities include the Cinekid for Professionals Conference.

The main goal of the Cinekid festival is to promote high-quality visual culture for children aged 4 to 14 as well as to encourage active and creative participation of children in the media. According to the festival’s organizers, contemporary media directly affect the emotional, social, creative and cognitive development of children. That’s why focusing on the quality of film, television and other media is focusing on the quality of life of our children.

The Cinekid film and television festival offers the best children’s films and television shows from all over the world. It is a ten-day event that attracts over 50,000 attendees each year and features more than 500 media productions selected by the festival board. Cinekid’s program includes feature films, short films, animated films, children’s documentaries, television series and single productions, cross media productions, interactive installations and set-ups. Besides, there are seminars, workshops, discussions, meetings with media professionals, and other activities for the festival’s young visitors.

Cinekid is a competitive festival that awards prizes to the best films, television programs and new media. The festival’s main competition is the Best Children’s Film Competition. Participating films are eligible for two awards – the Cinekid Lion Jury Award and the Cinekid Lion Audience Award. TV programs participate in the Kinderkast Competition that features several categories.

Along with the International Children’s Film Competition, Cinekid’s program includes other sections such as the Best Dutch Family Film Competition, Panorama, Dutch Shorts, European Short Animation Film Competition, special theme programs, television series screenings, and others.