MAIN TEXT OF THE REGULATION: Article 1. The Film Festival remains true to its initial goal: to draw attention to films, to increase their significance in order to promote the development of regional cinema, including the international film production market. An important task is also the identification of talents and the establishment of business assistance.
Article 2. The selection committee is formed by the decision of the President of the Film Festival. The selection committee reviews the works, assigns the status of "Official Choice" and allows participation in the 2nd and subsequent qualifying rounds.
Article 3.Only films that meet the following conditions may be selected by the selection committee for the status of "Official Selection": Films shot between 01/01/2018 and 04/30/2023 Films shot in any country of the world.; Films that have not been published in the public domain on the Internet, including social networks, streaming services and platforms (YouTube, Vimeo). The exceptions are films closed from the public, accessible through a special link and protected by a password (the second one is at the discretion of the Film Copyright Holder); Movies up to 40 minutes long including credits.
Article 4. Once a film, poster or script has been selected and given the status of "Official Choice", it cannot be excluded from the Festival program.
Article 5. During the entire festival, none of the selected films with the status of "Official Selection" can be shown publicly, including digital technologies and the Internet. This condition does not apply to posters.
Article 6. All films must be submitted in their original language with English subtitles. "Original language" means the language in which the film is or will be shown in its country of origin. In case the film does not have English subtitles, the chairman of the selection committee decides whether the film that does not meet this criterion can participate in the Festival. Posters must be submitted in English version.
Article 7. The Chairman of the Selection Committee appoints a maximum of one Jury member from Russia and the CIS; at least two international Jury members. International members of the Jury take part in the screening of films and other works at stage IV of the qualifying round. The Chairman of the selection committee receives from all members of the Jury the results of a closed (secret) voting and makes a decision on the Prize-winners (Winners) of the Festival in one or another nomination. The jury cannot include a person who took part in the production of the film / poster / script or the use of the film and other works in the competition.
Article 8. Works participate in the competition, where the director, screenwriter, film rights holder or official representative can apply for participation in the Festival in a specific nomination once. As part of the Festival 2023, the Jury is obliged to award:
-Best Short Feature Film;
-Best Short Documentary;
Article 9. The winner in the nomination "Best Short Feature Film" \ "Best Documentary Short Film" : The main prize is an annual membership in the Academy. Bonus: 135 € \ $
.Article 10. Films of the winners are placed on the official page of the Festival on IMDb.
Article 11. Directors (right holders or authorized persons) of films that have received the status of "Official Choice" provide the following materials to the Festival: a short film up to 40 minutes long, along with titles; up to 3 high-quality frames of the film without inscriptions, logos; movie poster; synopsis; a list of actors with a note of their professional status; information about the camera (brand; model) and budget with a note (with or without marketing).
Article 12. Short films are uploaded online to cloud storage without the possibility of public access with the generation of a secret link and password to the archive (if any). Applicants undertake by any means to maintain the confidentiality of the created link with the film. Article 14 Feature short films for participation in the official selection must be submitted by May 01, 2023.
Article 13. Selection rounds of the Festival:
- Round 1 (First): acceptance of applications for participation in the Festival.
- Round 2 (Second): viewing of films received within the framework of the 1st Round. The selection committee, headed by the Chairman of the selection committee, makes an expert assessment of the profile criteria, forming a screening list and a short list. Shortlist publication date May 19, 2023
- Round 3 (Third): Contestants who receive the status of "Official Choice" are allowed to the third qualifying round, demonstrating practical digital production skills and attracting the audience to vote for their person and submitted film (poster / script). This qualifying round is carried out with the help of a specialized service of the Festival's website "Digital Voting" and implies a simple, free registration of voters in the system with further submission of a form with the choice of the director and his film / poster. Digital voting runs from May 20, 2023 to May 25, 2023 22:00 UTC.
- Round 4 (Fourth): The chairman of the selection committee, headed by all members of the Jury, makes the final review of the works and analyzes the results of the digital voting. Each member of the Jury makes his own verdict (conclusion).
- Round 5 (Fifth): Based on all the information received from the members of the Jury, the Chairman of the selection committee makes a Decision on the Victory of one or another participant in the declared nomination with the issuance of all prizes due to him within the established timeframe (from 1 to 30 calendar days). Date of publication of Prizes and awards: May 27, 2023
Article 14. The President of the Festival has the right to resolve all cases not covered by these rules and regulations.
Article 15. Participation in the Festival implies the acceptance of all the above rules and compliance with the Preliminary Selection Conditions.
* This prize fund cannot be reduced, but has the right to be increased by the date of the formation of the shortlist. This condition in the direction of increasing the prize is not guaranteed.