Holland Animation Film Festival (HAFF) is a historical international animation festival rooted in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Its history begins in 1985, with an annual format from 2009. The programme spans independent narrative and non-narrative shorts, features, student films and Dutch animation. The Expanding Animation strand extends the programme into installations and visual art, alongside retrospectives, thematic screenings, masterclasses and discussions.
The last standalone edition dates are 22–26 March 2017, with the Louis Hartlooper Complex as the festival hub. The 2018 edition is cancelled. From 2019, HAFF and KLIK Amsterdam Animation Festival form the new Kaboom Animation Festival; their earlier editions remain distinct parts of its archive.
Festival rules
Historical regulations for the cancelled 2018 edition: entries normally require a premiere after 1 January 2017 and must not have been submitted to a previous HAFF edition, unless the organisers agree otherwise. Submission is free; competition screenings carry no screening fee. International competitions cover features, narrative and non-narrative shorts, and student films from all years of study. Shorts and student films have a maximum duration of 60 minutes. The Dutch animation competition also accepts commissioned work, music videos, television productions and broadcast design, with eligibility assessed under the festival’s Dutch-production points system. Non-English dialogue requires English subtitles; Dutch entries require an English-subtitled version if selected. Each film requires a separate entry form, a downloadable or physical preview and at least one still. DCP is the principal screening format, with high-quality QuickTime also accepted; DVD and Blu-ray screening copies are not accepted. Prize-winning films may appear in the non-commercial, non-exclusive HAFF Winners on Tour programme. These are archival conditions, not a current call for submissions.
