Film Festival — a festival of cinematographic works, accompanied by public screenings of films and the presence of their authors. During the film festival a film competition is held, based on the results of which prizes are awarded to the winners (Audience Award, various nominations, etc.), and general discussions with the creators of the films also take place.

Organizers — the creative association “Cassette.”

Submission — information provided by a film festival participant when filling out and submitting an electronic registration form on the official Internet resources of the film festival.

Expert Jury — a jury established to evaluate the films of the film festival participants, composed of persons appointed and/or recommended by the film festival organizer.

1.1 This Regulation governs the procedure for holding the international youth film festival “Cassette from the Parent’s Shelf” (hereinafter — the film festival) in 2026.

1.2 The film festival is held for the purpose of supporting young cinema (authors aged 18–35), professional communication, conducting public screenings, and educating the audience.

1.3 The organizers of the film festival are the independent creative association “Cassette.”

1.4 This Regulation is approved and amended by the chief organizers of the film festival, as well as by the organizational team of the creative association “Cassette.”

1.5 To achieve the goals and objectives of the film festival, the organizers may involve third parties.

1.6 The selection stage of the film festival is held from 10 February 2026 to 1 April 2026 in a remote format. The main stage is held in person from 1–3 May 2026 in Saint Petersburg.

1.7 Participation in the film festival is free of charge.

1.8 All information concerning the organization and conduct of the film festival, as well as the registration form for participation, is posted on the official website of the film festival [https://cassettefest.com], as well as on the film festival’s Telegram channel [https://t.me/cassettefest] and in the film festival’s VKontakte group “Cassette from the Parent’s Shelf” [https://vk.com/cassetefest].

1.9 The organizers reserve the right to make changes regarding the timing and locations of film festival events, with publication of information about changes on the information resources provided in clause 1.8 of this Regulation no later than 3 days before the originally scheduled date of the event to which the changes relate.

1.10 The official language of the film festival is Russian.

1.11 Additional information and questions may be obtained by contacting the organizer via email: info@cassettefest.com

2.1 Application period for the film festival: from 1 February 2026 to 1 April 2026.

2.2 To participate in the film festival, it is necessary to submit an application on the official website of the film festival [https://cassettefest.com], or on the FilmFreeway platform, or via the Google Forms link [https://forms.gle/KjAkQCCs2euRajN57].

2.3 The applicant must provide, as part of the application in Russian or English:

2.4 The processing of participants’ personal data is carried out in accordance with Federal Law No. 152-FZ of 27.07.2006 “On Personal Data”, as well as with the film festival’s Privacy Policy for the purposes of organizing and conducting the festival, preparing reports, informational mailings, and promoting the film festival.

2.5 By submitting an application to participate in the competition program of the film festival, the applicant gives consent to the processing of their personal data in accordance with the requirements of Federal Law No. 152-FZ of 27.07.2006 “On Personal Data”, specified in the application and in the materials submitted by them to the competition, by such means as collection, systematization, accumulation, storage, clarification, use, distribution, anonymization, blocking, destruction, and confirms that, by giving such consent, they act freely, of their own will, and in their own interests.

2.6 After receiving the official notification from the film festival organizers, the applicant must send confirmation of participation.

2.7 The decision to include a film in the film festival program is made no later than 5 April 2026.

2.8 Publication of the program with the list of films on the website and on the official Internet resources of the film festival — no later than 29 April 2026.

2.9 Film selection is carried out by the heads of the film club of the creative association “Cassette.”

2.10 The film festival organizers reserve the right not to explain the reason for refusal and not to provide comments regarding the selection of films.

2.11 All conditions and deadlines are mandatory for fulfillment; otherwise the film festival organizers reserve the right to exclude the film from the official program of the film festival.

3.1 The film festival accepts for participation films of fiction, documentary, experimental, and animated genres.

3.2 The film must have been completed no earlier than 01 January 2024.

3.3 Independent filmmakers, as well as students of higher education institutions in Russia enrolled in specialist, bachelor’s, master’s, and postgraduate (research and teaching staff training in postgraduate study) programs, aged from 18 to 40 years inclusive (at the time of the start of the film festival), may participate.

3.4 The film festival accepts films with a running time not exceeding 35 minutes. There are no restrictions on the minimum duration of films.

3.5 The film is not required to be a premiere.

3.6 Films submitted to the film festival must not contain propaganda of violence, national, racial, or religious intolerance, or offend moral sensibilities.

3.7 A submitted film may participate in only one of the approved nominations, the choice of which is made by the participant independently when filling out the application:

3.8 The film festival accepts for consideration no more than two films from one participant within a single nomination.

3.9 Participation in the film festival is free of charge.

3.10 The film festival does not pay travel and accommodation expenses for the authors of films in the competition program.

3.11 Confirmation of participation and invitation to the film festival are sent to all participants individually by email.

3.12 A minimum of 25 films are selected for participation in the film festival.

3.13 Participants grant consent for the public use of the materials provided to the organizers when filling out the registration application [clause 2.1 of the Regulation].

3.14 By filling out the registration application [clause 2.5 of the Regulation], participants confirm that the materials provided may be publicly used by the organizers for the purposes of promoting the film festival (no more than 2% of the total runtime) on the Internet resources in accordance with clause 1.8 of this Regulation.

3.15 By filling out the registration application [clause 2.5 of the Regulation], participants confirm that the organizers have the right to screen the film selected for the competition program no more than 5 times.

3.16 By filling out the registration application [clause 2.5 of the Regulation], participants confirm their agreement with the festival Regulation, and also confirm that they are authorized representatives of the film.

3.17 By filling out the registration application [clause 2.5 of the Regulation], participants consent to the processing of personal data obtained in the course of completing the participation form.

3.18 By filling out the registration application [clause 2.5 of the Regulation], the participant guarantees that they are the holder of exclusive rights to the film or are authorized by the rights holder to represent it and grant rights to the organizers to the extent established by the Regulation. The participant is responsible for violations of third-party copyrights.

4.1 The composition of the jury is determined annually by the organizing team of the film festival. Persons involved in the creation of the films submitted to the competition may not be members of the jury.

4.2 All jury members undertake to refrain from public statements regarding the competition films (namely mentions and direct references to the laureate films, publication in open sources of indications and/or reviews of the winning films or other references containing indications of the competition laureates) until the official awards ceremony and announcement of the winners.

4.3 The expert jury of the film festival includes representatives of the film industry, directors, actors, film scholars, bloggers, authors, and film critics.

4.4 The numerical composition of the expert jury of the film festival may not exceed five persons and may not be less than three persons.

4.5 The work of the expert jury of the film festival is directed by its chairperson, who is elected by the organizers from among the members of the expert jury.

4.6 The chairperson of the expert jury has the right to a deciding vote in case of a disputed situation.

4.7 By decision of the expert jury of the film festival, a deputy chairperson and a secretary of the expert jury may be elected.

4.8 Decisions of the expert jury are final and are not subject to appeal.

5.1 The festival consists of three stages:

5.2 Participants of the film festival must be guided by the following rules of conduct at the festival venue and comply with the following restrictions:

5.3 In case of non-compliance with the specified rules, a festival participant may be suspended from participation in the competition and removed from the festival venue.

5.4 Grounds for exclusion from participation in the film festival may include:

5.5 The organizer reserves the right to refuse admission to the film festival to persons without explaining the reasons and providing evidence.

6.1 Responsibility for claims and lawsuits of third parties related to copyright and related rights lies with the applicant of the film in relation to which the dispute arose.

6.2 With the consent obtained from a participant, the film festival organizers reserve the right to use films from the competition program to compile an almanac of the best works for further screenings of the almanac as part of the “festival echo.”

6.3 The film festival organizers reserve the right to produce and use video recordings from festival events on the Internet and in the media for the purpose of promoting the festival.

6.4 The information contained in this Regulation on the procedure and rules for conducting the film festival is posted on the film festival Website. In the event of changes to this Regulation, they are published on the official Internet resources of the film festival [clause 1.8 of the Regulation].

7.1 The participant is liable for infringement of third-party rights and undertakes to compensate the Organizer for all losses, including court and attorney’s fees.

7.2 The Organizer is not liable for the impossibility of holding events due to force majeure. In such cases the Organizer may change the format, venue, and dates of the Festival; changes are published on the official resources.

7.3 The Organizer is not liable for the impossibility of screening a film due to the technical unfitness of the provided materials; if problems arise, the organizer may demand replacement of the material or refuse the screening.

8.1 Following the jury sessions, prizes are awarded in the following nominations:

8.2 Following the audience voting, a prize is awarded in the nomination:

8.3 The jury also has the right to note individual works with additional diplomas in its own wording.

8.4 If a prize-winner of the film festival is unable to receive their prize at the closing ceremony, the prize may be presented to the authors after the end of the film festival. The prize may also be awarded to members of the creative team of the winning film.

8.5 Winners are announced on 3 May 2026; diplomas and prizes are presented to them. Other participants receive certificates and commemorative gifts. Information about the results of the film festival will be posted on the official Internet sources [clause 1.8] no later than 5 May 2026.