Cinekid Festival facts for kids

The Cinekid Festival is a super cool international festival in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It's all about film, TV, and new media for kids aged 4 to 14. Imagine a huge event filled with movies, TV shows, and digital fun! It started small in 1986 but has grown into a big organization.

Cinekid doesn't just happen once a year. It works all year long to create awesome activities for kids. These activities happen alongside the main festival. The festival itself shows films from all over the world. It also features the best TV shows made for children. Plus, there are lots of activities focused on new media, like games and interactive experiences. More than 50,000 kids, parents, and international guests visit the festival every year!

What is the Cinekid Foundation?

The Cinekid Foundation is the group that organizes the festival and all its activities. Their main goal is to make sure kids get to see and experience high-quality films, TV, and digital content. They also want to help kids get involved in creating media themselves. This helps kids understand and use media better.

To reach these goals, Cinekid does a few main things:

The Main Festival Event

The Cinekid Film, Television and New Media Festival is the biggest event each year. Before the main festival, there are special movie screenings for schools in Amsterdam. There's also a program called "Cinekid On Location." This program brings festival fun to 30 other cities across the Netherlands.

Cinekid for Professionals

This part of Cinekid is for adults who work in film, TV, and new media. It's a conference where they can learn new things and meet other professionals. They can also see new children's films and TV shows that are being made. It helps create more great content for kids!

Developing New Ideas

Cinekid also focuses on finding new ways to connect kids with media. They explore how different cultures use media. This includes training, testing new ideas, and developing new programs. It's all about making sure kids have the best and most up-to-date media experiences.

Learning About Media

Cinekid believes it's important for kids to understand media. This is called "media literacy." They want kids from all backgrounds to join the festival. Kids can discuss films, vote for their favorites, and even create their own media projects. They can also talk to people who make films and TV shows, including child actors. There are also many workshops to join.

Cinekid wants to show kids all kinds of media. This includes documentaries for kids and interactive digital experiences. These might be less common, but they are very exciting!

Cinekid Studio

One cool tool for learning is Cinekid Studio. This is an interactive online space where kids can create their own media projects all year long. It's a fun way to learn about how media is made. It helps kids become more aware of what they see and hear in the media.

The Cinekid Klappers

The Cinekid Klappers is a special list of about one hundred important children's films. Experts from around the world helped create this list. It includes great movies, both old and new, for different age groups and with many different themes. It's like a "must-watch" list for kids' films!

Awards at Cinekid

Cinekid gives out awards in three main areas:

Film Awards

• Cinekid Lion: This is an award chosen by a jury of experts.
• Cinekid Lion: This is an award chosen by the audience – that's you!

Television Awards

• Cinekid Kinderkast: Jury award for fiction (made-up stories).
• Cinekid Kinderkast: Jury award for non-fiction (real stories, like documentaries).
• Cinekid Kinderkast: Audience award for fiction.
• Cinekid Kinderkast: Audience award for non-fiction.
• Golden Cinekid Kinderkast: A special top award.

New Media Awards

• Cinekid New Media Award: Jury award.
• Cinekid New Media Award: Audience award.

In 2010, Cinekid also started giving a "Best Dutch Family Film" prize. Both a jury and the audience pick the winner for this award.

Past Winners Highlights

Over the years, many amazing films, TV shows, and new media projects have won awards at Cinekid. Here are a few examples of past winners:

Cinekid Lion (Film)

• 1992 Jury award: Het Zakmes (The Penknife) from the Netherlands.
• 1996 Audience award: Matilda from America.
• 2008 Jury and Audience award: Niko – The Way to the Stars from Finland.
• 2009 Jury award: A Brand New Life from France/South Korea.
• 2009 Audience award: De Krokodillenbende (The Crocodiles) from Germany.

Cinekid Kinderkast (Television)

• 1993 Audience award: Het Klokhuis (The Apple Core), a popular Dutch educational show.
• 2006 Golden Kinderkast: Docklands: Nina en Jelle from the Netherlands.
• 2007 Golden Kinderkast: Donkeygirl from the Netherlands.
• 2008 Golden Kinderkast: De Daltons, de jongensjaren from the Netherlands.
• 2009 Golden Kinderkast: Het Klokhuis, episode ‘Wakduiken’.
• 2011 Golden Kinderkast: Ik heb een droom (I Have a Dream).
• 2011 Jury award non-fiction: I'm Never Afraid! (Ik ben echt niet bang!) from the Netherlands.
• 2011 Audience award fiction: Raveleijn from the Netherlands.

Cinekid New Media Award

• 2000 Audience award: De Sims (The Sims) by Electronic Arts.
• 2002 Audience award: Harry Potter en de steen der wijzen (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) by Electronic Arts.
• 2006 Jury award: Nintendogs by Nintendo.
• 2008 Audience award: Mario Kart Wii by Nintendo.
• 2009 Audience award: SpangaS by NCRV.