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1. General provisions

1.1.The Cyber Kino international festival of short works created with the use of artificial intelligence (hereinafter — the Festival) is held by the sole proprietor Alexander Olegovich Bashilov, PSRNSP (ОГРНИП) 319774600098385, TIN (ИНН) 772372464850 (hereinafter — the Organiser).

1.2.The competition programme of the Festival is a public competition under Chapter 57 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. These Regulations are its conditions.

1.3.Terms. In the Regulations, terms are used in the meanings given below. Terms that are not in this section are understood in the meaning established by the legislation of the Russian Federation, and where the law does not define them, in the meaning commonly accepted in film and video production. Terms written with a capital letter (Work, Applicant, Organiser and others) have the meaning given in this section throughout the text.

1.4.By sending an entry, the Applicant confirms that they have read the Regulations and accept them. Consent to the processing of personal data is given separately (section 16).

1.5.The Regulations are published in Russian and in English. In the event of a discrepancy, the Russian text prevails.

1.6.Participation in the Festival is free of charge.

1.7.The age rating of the Festival events is 16+. Works containing information rated 18+ are shown at separate 18+ sessions (clause 10.3).

2. Dates

2.1.After 23:59 on 27 November 2026 entries are no longer accepted.

2.2.All times are Moscow time (UTC+3).

3. Who may take part

3.1.In 2026 participation is possible only from the age of 18. The Applicant may be an individual who has reached the age of 18 on the date of the entry — the author of the Work or an authorised representative of the rights holder.

3.2.If a Work is submitted by a company, the entry is submitted by one named individual — its representative. They are responsible for the accuracy of the entry on an equal footing with the company.

3.3.The Organiser, its staff, the members of the jury and their close relatives may not take part. Works in the creation of which they took part are not accepted, nor are Works of companies they own or run.

3.4.If a member of the jury is directly or indirectly connected with a Work, its authors or the applicant company, they do not evaluate that Work (clause 11.6).

3.5.One participant or one team may submit no more than 3 Works. Each Work is submitted as a separate entry.

4. Categories

4.1.A Work is entered into one of the categories of the main competition. The requirement for the use of AI is set out in clause 4.3.

4.2.Special categories. The jury may award them to Works of the main competition; no separate entry is submitted:

• Best AI Director — for outstanding creative vision in working with AI tools;
• Sovereign — a Work created by one person without a team and entirely with the help of AI: not only the image, but also the basis of the script, the music, the sound, the voices and other elements. To grant it, the jury may request the materials of clauses 7.3–7.4.

4.3.“100% AI” means that the entire image of the Work — every frame — is created by generative AI models, without live action, stock video or photographs. The requirement concerns the image only: the editing, colour grading, titles, script, sound and music may be produced by any means. The exception is the special category “Sovereign” (clause 4.2). In the hybrid format the share of AI must be at least 30% of the material.

4.4.The selection committee may move a Work to another category or to a special programme, having notified the Applicant.

4.5.Special conditions of the AI Advertising category.

4.5.1.Three kinds of Works are accepted:

• commissioned — created on the order of a real advertiser, released or not;
• spec works with a real brand — created without a commission, only with the written permission of the brand owner;
• for a fictional brand — without permission, provided the brand is not confusingly similar to an existing trademark.

4.5.2.When submitting an entry, the Applicant is obliged to make sure that they have obtained from the brand owner or the advertiser written permission for the Work to take part in competitions and festivals, for its public screening and for its use in the materials of the Festival under section 9. The entry states the brand, the advertiser and the contact details of their authorised representative. Submitting an entry constitutes a warranty that such permission exists.

4.5.3.A copy of the permission is provided within 5 days of the request. The Organiser may contact the advertiser to verify it. If the advertiser does not confirm the permission, the Work is withdrawn from the competition.

4.5.4.A spec Work with a real brand contains in its end title or description the note: “This work was created for a competition and is not official advertising of [brand]”, unless the brand owner has permitted otherwise.

4.5.5.A Work is submitted in the form in which it was created or released. Campaign results (reach, sales, awards) are stated only where they are accurate and can be confirmed by the advertiser.

4.5.6.Works advertising goods and services whose advertising is prohibited or restricted in the Russian Federation (art. 7 of Federal Law 38-FZ “On Advertising”: including tobacco and nicotine-containing products, unlicensed gambling, means of bypassing blocks — VPN) are not accepted, nor are Works withdrawn by the advertiser or found to be improper advertising, nor Works that pass off an AI image as real footage of events, people or results (clause 7.11).

4.5.7.Works in this category are shown at the Festival. The Organiser may choose not to publish advertising Works on the website and in social media, or to agree such publication with the advertiser.

5. Requirements for the Work

5.1.The running time is as set out in the table in clause 4.1, including the titles.

5.2.The Work was completed no earlier than 1 January 2025.

5.3.The final version of the Work is provided with the entry. The selection is carried out on it, and it is also the screening copy. Trailers, rough cuts and unfinished versions are not accepted. The jury watches one version of the Work.

5.4.The screening copy is provided in MP4 or MOV format, at a resolution of up to 2K (2048×1080). The link must allow the file to be downloaded.

5.5.Works not in English, including those in Russian, are accepted only with English subtitles — burned in or as a separate .srt file. Subtitles in other languages needed for the screenings are prepared by the Organiser.

5.6.Premiere status is not required. Works shown at other festivals or published on the internet are accepted.

5.7.Replacing the submitted version is allowed only in exceptional cases, as agreed with the Organiser.

5.8.Works of any genre are accepted, provided their content does not breach section 10.

6. Submitting an entry

6.1.An entry is submitted through the form on the “Regulations” page of the Festival website. The fallback route is an email to submit@cyber-kino-festival.com with the subject “Submission 2026” and the same details.

6.2.The entry contains:

• the title of the Work in English and in the original language;
• the name of the director (directors);
• the name of the Applicant, the Applicant’s country, a contact e-mail;
• the country of production, the running time (min:sec), the category;
• a link to the final version of the Work and the password to it, if there is one;
• a link to the materials in a single folder: the poster, up to 10 frames, .srt subtitles, information about the creators, a photograph of the director;
• the synopsis;
• the age rating of the Work: 16+ or 18+ (18+ if it contains obscene language or other information prohibited for children);
• for the AI Advertising category — the brand, the advertiser and the contact details of their representative (clause 4.5.2);
• separate confirmations of acceptance of the Regulations, of consent to the processing of personal data and of consent to its publication (section 16).

6.3.The links and files must remain available and unchanged until 31 December 2026 and must not contain malware.

6.4.Receipt of the entry is confirmed by an email to the Applicant’s e-mail address.

6.5.Incomplete entries may be rejected. The Organiser may request the missing details and materials.

7. Use of artificial intelligence

7.1.A Work must meet the requirement for the use of AI of its category (clauses 4.1, 4.3). The Applicant may use any AI models, services and platforms.

7.2.The Applicant complies with the terms of use, the licence conditions and the rules on the use of results of every AI service with the help of which the Work was created.

7.3.AI declaration on request. It is not submitted together with the entry. If a Work raises doubts among the members of the jury that it was created with the use of AI in accordance with the requirements of its category, the Organiser sends the Applicant a request. In reply, the Applicant states:

1. all the AI models, services and platforms and their versions, the account under which each tool was operated, and the share of the Work created by each of them;
2. the source and the licence of every element created without AI: music, sound effects, voice, fonts, stock video and images, own footage;
3. for every face, voice, likeness or performance in the Work — whether it is synthetic or based on a real person; and, if on a real person, confirmation of their consent.

7.4.Verification of authenticity and of the creation process. The Organiser may, at any time before the Winners are announced and, for awarded Works, afterwards as well, request:

• edit projects and timelines (collects, EDL, XML), source files;
• prompts, including those for key frames and characters;
• the generation history and generation variants, including unused ones;
• shot logs, references and other materials reasonably necessary to verify the authenticity of the AI generations, the creation process, originality, the share of AI and the rights to the materials.

7.5.The materials under clause 7.4 are provided within 5 days of the request. The Applicant keeps them for at least 24 months after the end of the Festival. Failure to provide the materials is grounds to withdraw the Work from the competition.

7.6.The Organiser may check the Work for originality, plagiarism, similarity to other works, signs of AI and infringement of copyright, including by means of third-party services. By submitting an entry, the Applicant consents to such checks.

7.7.It is prohibited to remove, alter, conceal or circumvent watermarks, provenance data and labelling applied by AI tools.

7.8.Rights to AI results. The Applicant understands that copyright protection of materials created by AI differs from country to country. Under the law of the Russian Federation, only a citizen who created a result by their creative labour is recognised as its author (arts. 1228, 1257 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Rights to the results of AI work may be determined by the terms of the tool’s provider. The Organiser does not guarantee that any element of the Work is protected by law or free from claims.

7.9.The Applicant is themselves responsible for ensuring that the terms of every AI service permit the use of the Work under the Regulations — public screening and promotion — and, where necessary, takes out a commercial subscription.

7.10.Real people, voices and deepfakes. The Applicant is obliged to hold the signed consent of every recognisable real person whose image, voice, name, performance or likeness is present in the Work or has been used for the training, prompting or fine-tuning of any tool (art. 152.1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

7.11.It is prohibited:

• to depict, imitate or clone the voice of a real person in a deceptive or defamatory manner, or without documented consent;
• to use deepfakes of a real person, living or deceased, without consent;
• to create synthetic images of real people and events that could be taken for genuine footage;
• to use the image of a celebrity, a public figure or a brand in a way that creates the impression of their endorsement. The exception is Works in the AI Advertising category submitted under the rules of clause 4.5; images of real people in them are permitted only with their consent.

7.12.Failure to meet the requirement for the use of AI, an inaccurate AI declaration, failure to provide the materials under clause 7.4, removal of labelling or a breach of clauses 7.10–7.11 are grounds for withdrawing the Work from the competition and revoking an award (section 15).

8. Rights to the Work and the Applicant’s warranties

8.1.The Applicant warrants that they:

• are the author of the Work or are authorised by the rights holder to submit it and to permit its screening at the Festival;
• where the Work has several authors (a team), have obtained the consent of all co-authors to participation and to the licence under section 9 (art. 1258 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation);
• where the Work was created under an employment contract, on commission or as part of studies, have obtained the consent of the employer, the client or the educational institution (art. 1295 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation);
• have obtained the director’s permission, if they are submitting the Work not on the director’s behalf;
• hold written licences for all third-party materials: music, footage, photographs, texts, fonts, stock — with the right of public screening;
• the Work does not infringe the rights of third parties to their image, trademarks or other rights;
• the Work is not bound by exclusive contracts that prevent its participation.

8.2.The Applicant is obliged to inform the Organiser immediately if a warranty has ceased to be true or if a claim has been brought in respect of the Work.

8.3.The Organiser does not acquire the exclusive right to the Work. The right to conclude a contract on the use of the Work under art. 1060 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation is not granted to the Organiser.

8.4.The same Work may not be submitted several times — by one Applicant or by different Applicants, including into different categories. Repeated and nearly identical entries may be rejected.

8.5.The Organiser makes no claim to the ideas and concepts of Works. A similarity of ideas or plots between different participants does not in itself mean an infringement of rights and does not give grounds for claims against the Organiser.

9. Licence to the Festival

9.1.By submitting an entry, the Applicant grants the Organiser, free of charge, a simple (non-exclusive) licence for the territory of the whole world. The term of the licence is 3 years from the date of the entry and, for the archive and for materials already published, the whole term of the exclusive right (art. 1235 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). The ways of use are:

• for all submitted Works — reproduction for selection and evaluation;
• for shortlisted Works — public screening at the Festival; use of frames, the poster and fragments no longer than 10% of the running time and no more than 3 minutes to promote the Festival in various media and on the internet, as well as for archival and other non-commercial purposes; the creation of subtitles in the required languages;
• for the archive — keeping a copy of the Work, frames and the description in the Festival archive, and preserving materials already published.

9.2.The details from the entry (synopsis, titles, information about the creators) are used in the materials of the Festival without changes to their substance.

9.3.The Organiser does not sell the Work and does not transfer it to third parties for a fee without a separate contract with the Applicant.

9.4.The Festival pays no remuneration for the screening of Works. The Applicant retains the right to distribute the Work freely.

9.5.When a Work is screened at the Festival and listed in the programme, its title and the name of the author (the director) are stated. In showreels, montage clips and trailers composed of several Works, a general list of the Works and authors in the end titles or in the description of the publication is sufficient. Adding subtitles and the Festival logo and changing the file format are not considered an alteration of the Work, and the Applicant consents to them.

9.6.After the end of the Festival the Applicant may ask in writing that no new publications of fragments be made. Materials already published and the archive are not deleted.

10. Prohibited content

10.1.The prohibition concerns content, not genre. Horror, thriller, war drama, satire or erotic melodrama are permitted, provided they do not contain what is listed below. Works are not accepted and not screened if they contain:

10.2.Works containing obscene language are accepted. They are given the 18+ rating (436-FZ) and are shown only at 18+ sessions.

10.3.The events of the Festival are rated 16+. Works rated 18+ are grouped into separate sessions marked 18+, entry to which is restricted by age.

10.4.The Organiser determines the final age rating of a screening (436-FZ) and may refuse to screen a Work or a part of it if the screening could breach the law or the requirements of the venue. The list of grounds in clause 10.1 is not exhaustive: all legislation of the Russian Federation in force on the date of the screening applies.

11. The jury and the selection

11.1.The line-up of the jury is published on the Festival website. The Organiser may change the line-up of the jury during the entry period, having notified the Applicants by e-mail and on the website. A change in the line-up of the jury does not change the criteria or the procedure of evaluation.

11.2.The jury watches and evaluates the Works throughout the entry period, as they arrive. Every admitted Work is watched in full by at least two members of the jury.

11.3.The stages of the selection:

1. checking the entry for compliance with the Regulations, including section 10;
2. the viewing of the Work by at least two members of the jury and the decision to include it in the shortlist — the notification is sent as the Works are watched, no later than 4 December 2026;
3. publication of the Festival programme — 4 December 2026;
4. determination of the Winners — the announcement and the awards ceremony at the Festival on 11–13 December 2026.

11.4.Works submitted in the final days of the entry period are watched from 28 November to 4 December 2026 on the same conditions. The absence of a notification by 4 December 2026 means that the Work has not been shortlisted.

11.5.The criteria of evaluation:

For the AI Advertising category, the criterion “Idea, script and dramaturgy” is assessed as the idea and its fit with the brand’s task.

11.6.A member of the jury does not evaluate a Work with which they are directly or indirectly connected: where its authors, the applicant or the client are their relatives, friends, colleagues, employer, employees or a company they work with. They inform the Organiser of such a connection, and the Work is evaluated by other members of the jury.

11.7.The decisions of the jury are final. The Organiser is not obliged to disclose the scores or to explain the decisions.

11.8.The programme directors may invite a Work to take part. An invited Work submits an entry and goes through the selection on general terms.

12. Awards

12.1.The awards of the Festival:

There are no cash prizes.

12.2.The jury may withhold the award in a category if no Work matches the level of the competition.

12.3.Diplomas are presented at the Festival on 11–13 December 2026. If a Winner cannot attend, the diploma is handed to their representative or sent in electronic form. Digital laurels are sent to the e-mail address given in the entry: to shortlist participants together with the notification, to Winners after the ceremony.

12.4.The Organiser does not pay participants’ travel and accommodation unless announced otherwise.

12.5.A digital laurel may be used on posters, in titles and in descriptions of the Work without a time limit. The laurel may not be altered or used for other works.

12.6.Participants are free to mention the name of the Festival. The logo of the Festival is used only as part of the laurels issued or with the written consent of the Organiser. Participants do not create the impression that the Festival sponsors or endorses their activity.

13. Notifications

13.1.All notifications are sent to the e-mail address given in the entry. The Applicant keeps an eye on the spam folder. A notification is deemed received on the day it is sent.

13.2.Shortlist notifications are sent as the Works are watched by at least two members of the jury, no later than 4 December 2026. The list of shortlisted Works is published on the website together with the programme.

13.3.The shortlist determines the composition of the screening programme. Inclusion in the shortlist does not mean that an award has been granted.

13.4.A shortlist participant confirms their participation within 2 days of the notification. Without confirmation the Organiser may exclude the Work from the programme.

13.5.The Festival programme is published on the website on 4 December 2026.

13.6.A participant may announce publicly that they have been shortlisted as soon as they are notified, and may use the digital laurel they have received. The Organiser asks that the official accounts of the Festival be tagged in such publications. Announcing a win before the official announcement at the Festival is not allowed.

14. Screenings

14.1.The Festival takes place on 11–13 December 2026 in Moscow. The address of the venue is announced on the website no later than 4 December 2026.

14.2.Shortlisted Works are screened. The Organiser may also screen out of competition other Works that impressed the jury.

14.3.The final version submitted with the entry is used for the screening (clause 5.3). The Organiser may request the file in a screening format; it is provided no later than 7 December 2026.

14.4.The Festival is included in the list of film festivals of the Ministry of Culture of Russia. Each Work is screened at the Festival no more than 5 times.

14.5.Sessions are held with an age rating (clause 10.4).

15. Withdrawal from the competition and revocation of an award

15.1.The Organiser may refuse admission, withdraw a Work from the competition or revoke an award at any stage if:

• the Regulations have been breached, or a warranty or the AI declaration is inaccurate;
• the Work does not meet the requirement for the use of AI of its category;
• plagiarism, infringement of the rights of third parties or a well-founded claim by a rights holder has been established;
• the requirements of section 10 have been breached;
• the advertiser has not confirmed the permission (clause 4.5.3);
• the Applicant attempted to influence the jury or impersonated another person.

15.2.A Work whose award has been revoked or which has been excluded from the shortlist loses the right to the diploma and the laurel. The Organiser publishes a corrected list on the website.

15.3.An Applicant may withdraw their entry by email before the programme is published. Materials already published are not deleted.

16. Personal data

16.1.The Organiser processes personal data in accordance with 152-FZ and the Privacy Policy of the Festival. The registration number in the register of personal data operators is 77-26-569291.

16.2.When submitting an entry, the Applicant gives consent, by a separate checkbox, to the processing of personal data on the terms of the Privacy Policy. This checkbox is not combined with the acceptance of the Regulations.

16.3.Consent to the publication of the name, country, photograph and details of the Work (data permitted for dissemination) is given by a separate checkbox.

16.4.When submitting by email, the consents are expressed as separate sentences following the template published on the website.

16.5.The Applicant passes on the data of other people (team members, actors) only with their consent and informs them of the purposes of the processing.

17. Liability

17.1.The Applicant settles the claims of third parties relating to the Work on their own and compensates the Organiser for losses and expenses caused by a breach of the warranties in section 8.

17.2.The Organiser is not liable for the loss or delay of entries due to failures of communications, mail services and hosting, nor for the operation of third-party AI services.

17.3.The limitations of liability do not apply to intent and gross negligence.

17.4.Claims by rights holders. A party who considers that a Work infringes their rights sends a claim to info@cyber-kino-festival.com stating their contact details, the Work in dispute and the right infringed. The Organiser may suspend the screening and publication of the Work, inform the Applicant of the claim and request explanations and documents from them within 5 days. The Applicant settles the dispute with the rights holder on their own.

18. Change of conditions and cancellation

18.1.The Organiser may change the conditions of the competition or cancel it only during the first half of the entry period — no later than 10 November 2026 (art. 1058 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

18.2.The Organiser announces changes in the same way as the competition was announced — on the Festival website — and, in addition, by e-mail to the Applicants.

18.3.Changes to the line-up of the jury (clause 11.1), to the address of the venue and to the schedule of sessions within the dates of 11–13 December 2026 are made with notification to the Applicants.

19. Force majeure

In circumstances of insuperable force, decisions of public authorities or the unavailability of the venue, the Organiser may postpone the screenings or hold them online, having notified the participants.

20. Applicable law and disputes

20.1.The Regulations and the relations of the parties are governed by the legislation of the Russian Federation.

20.2.Disputes are resolved through negotiation; a claim is considered within 30 days. If a dispute is not settled, it is referred to the court at the location of the Organiser.

21. Contacts

Entries: submit@cyber-kino-festival.com. General questions and claims: info@cyber-kino-festival.com. Partnerships: partners@cyber-kino-festival.com.