Professionals and film enthusiasts are invited to participate in the following categories:
1 Category "Youth": filmmakers, youth groups, and individual authors.
A film can be included in this category only if at least one of the following conditions is met:
— The main director must be between 18 and 35 years old (at the time of the film's creation);
— The main cinematographer must be between 18 and 35 years old (at the time of the film's creation);
— The majority of actors (or presenters for television programs and documentaries) are between the ages of 18 and 35 (at the time of the film's creation);
— The majority of the creators of an animated film (the director, animator) are between the ages of 18 and 35 (at the time of the film's creation).
2 Category "Adults":
2.1. Groups and individual authors, without age restrictions, who create films for children with children as the main character(s).
2.2. Collectives and individual authors, without age restrictions, who presented an Orthodox film, nomination "Light to the World"
2.3. Collectives and individual authors, without age restrictions, who submitted a patriotic film, nomination "Patriotic Film"
3. Films and programs created no earlier than January 2024 are accepted for participation in the festival's competition program. The working language of the Festival is Russian. Programs (films) created in a foreign language must have Russian subtitles or simultaneous translation. As an exception, the organizing committee may accept a film with English subtitles for the competition.
4. Films are accepted via a file sharing service in AVCHD, MOV, or MPEG-4 format. HD-quality films are preferred. The link to the films must be valid until the end of the festival finals.
5. Only one film per category is accepted from one author – one clip, one feature, etc. (except for cases where different directors within one studio present their works in the same category), multiple works can be accepted from one studio if they have different directors.
6. Works that promote the activities of totalitarian, occult, satanic, and any other destructive sects, psychics, magicians, sorcerers, and healers are not accepted.
7. The International Youth Film Festival "Light to the World" is held in two stages: the selection of the best video works (in absentia) and the final. The selection committee is established to ensure that the works are eligible for participation in the final part of the competition. The selection committee conducts a preliminary selection process to choose films that meet the Festival's high technical and artistic standards. The films that make it to the final round are evaluated by the Festival's jury.
