TERMS & CONDITIONS
1. By submitting a film to ETER Anima Festival 2026, the submitter confirms that they have read and accepted these Terms & Conditions.
2. The submitter confirms that they hold all rights, licences and permissions necessary to submit the film and allow its public screening during the Festival.
3. ETER Anima Festival 2026 will take place from 30 September to 3 October 2026 in Łódź, Poland.
4. The Festival is organized by Stowarzyszenie Filmowe FilmETER, based in Łódź, Poland, NIP: 7272845100, KRS: 0000860804.
5. The Festival includes three film competitions: the International Main Competition, divided into stop motion and computer techniques / 3D categories, the Polish Animation Competition, and the International Children’s Film Competition.
6. The Competitions are open to animated short films made using any animation technique, including stop motion, drawn animation, puppet animation, cut out animation, 2D, 3D, mixed, experimental and hybrid techniques.
7. Films must have been produced after 1 January 2025.
8. There is no world, international or Polish premiere requirement.
9. The maximum running time for films submitted to each Competition is 30 minutes.
10. Films submitted to the Polish Animation Competition must meet at least one of the following conditions: the film was produced or co produced in Poland, the director is a Polish filmmaker, the film was made at a Polish film school, art school or higher education institution, or the film was made by creators permanently active in the Polish animation community.
11. Films submitted to the International Children’s Film Competition should be suitable for children or family audiences and appropriate for the age group indicated by the submitter.
12. The Organizer reserves the right to reject films containing content unsuitable for the declared age group in the International Children’s Film Competition.
13. Advertising, promotional and instructional films, as well as works created solely to promote a product, service, brand or commercial campaign, are not eligible.
14. Music videos may be considered only at the Organizer’s discretion if they clearly have the character of an authorial animated film.
15. Films created, generated, co created or substantially processed using artificial intelligence systems, including generative AI tools, are not eligible.
16. The AI restriction includes, in particular, the use of AI to generate images, animation, movement, characters, voice, music, dialogue, script, visual effects or other elements having a creative impact on the final form of the film.
17. The Organizer may request additional information about the production process of a submitted film.
18. Providing false information may result in rejection, disqualification, withdrawal from the Festival programme or revocation of an award.
19. Submission does not guarantee selection.
20. The Organizer reserves the right to assign a submitted film to a different Competition than the one chosen by the submitter if the film better fits another section.
21. The submitter will be informed of such decision.
22. The submission fee is non refundable, except in cases specified by the Organizer or required by applicable law.
23. Payment of the submission fee is required for the film to be considered for selection.
24. The preview link must remain active from the moment of submission until 31 August 2026.
25. The preview copy should be available online in a quality of at least 720p.
26. Films whose original language is not English must include English subtitles, unless they contain no dialogue or text relevant to understanding the film.
27. Selected films must be confirmed by the submitter by 24 August 2026.
28. Failure to confirm participation by this date may be treated as withdrawal from the Competition.
29. The full list of selected films will be announced on 28 August 2026.
30. Selected films must provide a screening copy no later than 6 September 2026.
31. Preferred screening formats include DCP 2K, Interop or SMPTE, 24 fps or 25 fps, or a high quality H.264 / H.265 file.
32. Other formats may be accepted by the Organizer.
33. If the screening copy is encrypted, the submitter must provide the appropriate KDM keys for Festival screenings and technical tests.
34. Selected films must be delivered with English subtitles in .srt format or as hardcoded subtitles.
35. For films selected for the International Children’s Film Competition, the Organizer may request additional materials such as a dialogue list, subtitles or information about the suggested age group.
36. The submitter agrees that, if selected, the film may be publicly screened as part of the competition programme of ETER Anima Festival 2026.
37. The submitter grants the Organizer the right to use, free of charge, promotional materials related to the film, including stills, poster, trailer, film description, biographies, photographs of filmmakers and film information, for the purpose of promoting the Festival, the Competitions and the Festival programme.
38. The submitter grants the Organizer the right to use short excerpts from the selected film, not exceeding 30 seconds or 10 percent of the film’s running time, whichever is shorter, solely for informational, promotional and media purposes connected with the Festival.
39. The Organizer does not acquire any copyright to submitted films.
40. Any use of the film beyond the scope described in these Terms requires separate arrangements with the submitter, unless otherwise provided by law.
41. The Selection Committee and Jury are appointed by the Organizer.
42. The decisions of the Selection Committee and Jury are final and do not require justification.
43. The Jury may award the following main prizes: ETER Grand Prix for the best film across all Competitions, Best Stop Motion Film in the Main Competition, Best 3D Film in the Main Competition, Main Award in the Polish Animation Competition, and Main Award in the International Children’s Film Competition.
44. The Organizer may also award special mentions, audience awards, partner awards, financial prizes, in kind prizes or other accompanying awards.
45. The type, value and detailed rules of the awards will be announced by the Organizer no later than before the beginning of the Festival.
46. The Organizer provides Festival accreditations for Finalists.
47. Subject to availability and organizational capacity, the Organizer may provide accommodation to selected representatives of selected films.
48. The Organizer does not cover transport costs.
49. The Organizer reserves the right to amend the Festival calendar, programme and these Terms & Conditions.
50. Participants will be informed of significant changes by email, through the submission platform or via the Festival website.
51. In the event that the Festival is postponed or cancelled, the Organizer may invite selected films to participate in the next edition.
52. The submitter has the right to refuse and withdraw the film by informing the Organizer by email within 14 days from the announcement of such decision.
53. The personal data of submitters will be processed for the purposes of organizing the Competitions, handling submissions, conducting selection, contacting participants, publishing information about selected films and winners, promoting the Festival and fulfilling the Organizer’s legal obligations.
54. Detailed information on personal data processing is available in the Festival Privacy Policy.
55. These Terms & Conditions are governed by Polish law.
56. In the event of disputes, the parties shall seek to resolve them amicably.
57. Questions regarding submissions and the Competitions should be sent to: competition@eterfestival.com
58. If these Terms & Conditions are prepared in more than one language version, the Polish version shall prevail, unless the Organizer decides otherwise.
The full version of the Rules & Terms is available here: https://eterfestival.com/en/konkurs/
