Haarlem, Netherlands-based, Academy Award-winning animation producer Cilia van Dijk died April 26 at the age of 81 after a short illness. In addition to producing noteworthy films such as Piet Kroon’s DaDa, Sjaak Meilink’s Stiltwalker and Børge Ring’s Oscar-winning short Anna & Bella, van Dijk was a champion of Dutch animation on the international scene.
Born Cilia van Lieshout in Uden on November 22, 1941, the filmmaker trained as a teacher and was an active entrepreneur from an early age, co-founding Release and setting up both a modelling agency and a nursery school. She married actor-filmmaker Gerrit van Dijk in 1963, and was introduced to the world of animation when he began making animated films, and served as producer on his works like The Last Words of Dutch Schultz, Frieze Frame, Pas à deux (with Monique Renault) and I move, so I am. The creative pair were married for almost 50 years before Gerrit passed away in 2012 from lung cancer.
In 1978, to reach a wider audience for Dutch animated films, Cilia van Dijk founded distribution company Animated People, the forerunner of the Netherlands Institute for Animated Film. She was a board member for the Holland Animation Association, participated in advisory committees for grant awards and was also active on selection committees and as a jury member for festivals around the world.
Together with her husband, van Dijk was also involved in the Haarlem arts community and contributed to various local initiatives. For years, she looked after the production and finances of Haarlem theater company Het Volk, and was closely involved administratively with the Toneelschuur theater (now De Schuur) and many freelance artists and theatrical auteurs.
In 1986, van Dijk won the Oscar for Best Short Animation Film as producer of Anna & Bella. The award was memorably presented by The Muppets stars Kermit (puppeteered by Jim Henson) and Scooter (Richard Hunt).
Several of van Dijk’s unique, unconventional and captivating animated films have also won awards, including two Golden Bears from the Berlinale (for Pas à deux and I move, so I am). The hardworking crusader for Dutch animation was appointed Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau and was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The winner was Cilia Van Dijk, Producer of Anna & Bella pic.twitter.com/xnDJPRkc2k
— Muppet History 🎓 (@HistoryMuppet) March 11, 2023
