Terms & Conditions

The Astana AI Film Festival is an international festival of cinema created with artificial intelligence, hosted in Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan. The Festival is operated under the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Its mission is not only to run a competition, but to build a lasting community and distribution channel for AI-assisted filmmaking. The annual theme for the 2026 edition is “The Future Worth Living In”.

For any question about these Terms, contact us at desk@aaiff.ai.

• "Entrant" / "you" — the natural person who submits a Work, acting on their own behalf and on behalf of every contributor to that Work.
• "Work" — the film and all material you submit to the Festival, including the moving image, audio, title, synopsis, stills, and accompanying information.
• "Submission"— the act of entering a Work through the Site's submission form.
• "Section" — a competition category: the Thematic Competition (Main Section) or the Open Competition (Open Section).
• "Eligibility Period" — the window during which Works must be registered: 25 May 2026 to 15 August 2026.
• "Festival Materials" — any content the Festival produces to announce, promote, document, or archive the Festival, in any medium now known or later developed.

• The Festival is open worldwide. There is no age limit on the authorship of a Work.
• The Site and submission process are not directed at children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16 (see the Privacy Policy). An Entrant who is a minor in their country of residence must have a parent or legal guardian review and accept these Terms on their behalf.
• Each Entrant must be the author of the Work, or be fully authorised by every author and rights holder to submit it and to grant the licence in Section 8.
• Employees of the Festival, members of the jury, and their immediate families may not submit competing Works.
• Entry is free. The Festival does not charge a submission fee and does not sell goods or services in connection with the competition.

The Festival runs two competitions, with a total prize fund of US$1,000,000:

• Thematic Competition (Main Section)— reserved for Works created within the Eligibility Period and developed in response to the annual theme "The Future Worth Living In". Prize fund: US$750,000 (Grand Prize US$450,000, Second Prize US$200,000, Third Prize US$100,000).
• Open Competition (Open Section) — open to Works of any theme or approach, including previously completed Works and Works that have screened or competed elsewhere. Prize fund: US$250,000, awarded across five categories (Best Character, Best Direction, Best Visual, Best Story, Best Concept), US$50,000 each.

A Work may be entered into both competitions, but each entry must be registered separately through the form. The Festival may, at its discretion, adjust category names, prize allocations, or the number of awards if the standard or volume of entries makes it reasonable to do so, and will publish any such change on the Site.

To be considered, a Submission must meet all of the following:

• Duration — the Work must run for 3 minutes or longer. This applies to both competitions.
• AI must be integral — generative AI must be central to the creation of the Work, not merely used for VFX or upscaling.
• Disclosure — all contributors must be credited, and the AI model(s) and production pipeline must be disclosed at Submission.
• Language & subtitles — a Work may be in any language, but English subtitles must be embedded directly in the video.
• YouTube hashtag — Works uploaded to YouTube must include the hashtag #SpecialForAAIFF in the video description. Entries without it will not be considered.
• Hosting & access — the Work must be provided as a public or unlisted YouTube link, or as a Google Drive file with view access for anyone with the link, and must remain accessible to the Festival throughout the judging process.
• Registration window — the Work must be applied and registered between 25 May 2026 and 15 August 2026.

You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you provide. The Festival may contact you to verify any detail and may reject or withdraw an entry that is incomplete, inaccessible, or non-compliant.

By submitting a Work, you represent and warrant that:

• You are the author of the Work, or you have obtained all rights, consents, and permissions necessary to submit it and to grant the licence in Section 8;
• The Work is your original creation and does not infringe any copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, moral, or other right of any third party;
• You have cleared all third-party material in the Work — including music, footage, voices, likenesses, trademarks, and any datasets, models, or assets used in its production — to the extent required for the Work to be exhibited and promoted as set out in these Terms;
• Every person who appears in or contributed to the Work has consented to its submission, exhibition, and promotion by the Festival;
• The Work does not contain unlawful, defamatory, hateful, or deceptive content, and complies with Section 10;
• The credits and AI-pipeline disclosure you provide are accurate and complete.

You keep ownership. Nothing in these Terms transfers the copyright or any other intellectual-property right in your Work to the Festival. You retain full ownership of, and authorship credit for, the Work at all times. The Festival only receives the limited licence described in Section 8.

So that the Festival can run the competition, screen entries, announce results, and promote the event and its filmmakers, you grant AAIFF a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to use the Work as follows:

• To reproduce, exhibit, stream, and publicly perform the Work, in whole or in part, at Festival screenings, awards events, and official Festival showcases;
• To create and use stills, excerpts, and short clips of the Work in Festival Materials — including trailers, highlight reels, programme listings, press materials, the Site, newsletters, and social-media channels — for the purpose of announcing, promoting, documenting, and archiving the Festival and the filmmakers who take part;
• To use your name, the Work's title, the synopsis, the disclosed credits, and your public social handle in connection with the above.

This licence is granted on the following conditions:

• Credit. The Festival will attribute the Work to you and the credited contributors wherever reasonably practical.
• Purpose. The licence is limited to operating and promoting the Festival. The Festival will not sell your Work or license it to third parties for their own commercial use without your separate written consent (see Section 9).
• Term. The promotional and archival licence continues after the competition so that the Festival may keep a historical record and reference past editions. The full-length exhibition right applies during the relevant Festival cycle.
• Integrity. Any excerpt or clip the Festival creates will be edited only for length and format, and will not be altered in a way that misrepresents the Work.

If you believe a specific use exceeds this licence, contact us at desk@aaiff.ai and we will review it promptly.

The Festival works with partner platforms and media (for example Freedom Media) to give finalist and award-winning Works a wider audience. Showing your Work on a partner platform goes beyond the promotional licence in Section 8 and will only happen with your separate, explicit consent. We will tell you which partner, in what form, and for how long, before any such use, and you may decline without affecting your standing in the competition.

A Work must not contain, and you must not submit, material that:

• Is unlawful under the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan or of your own country;
• Infringes the intellectual-property, privacy, or publicity rights of any person;
• Incites hatred or violence, or discriminates against any person or group;
• Is harmful to the health or development of children, contrary to Article 39 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On the Rights of the Child";
• Is intentionally deceptive — for example, AI-generated likenesses of real people used without consent in a misleading way.

You agree to deal with the Festival, the jury, and other entrants respectfully and in good faith throughout the competition.

Entries are evaluated by an independent jury appointed by the Festival. The jury assesses Works on artistic, narrative, and technical merit and on how meaningfully AI is used. The jury's decisions are final and not subject to appeal. The Festival does not provide individual feedback on entries. The Festival may withhold an award in any category if, in the jury's judgement, no entry meets the required standard.

• Prizes are awarded as described in Section 4 and announced on the Site and at the awards event.
• A winner may be asked to verify identity and authorship, and to confirm the rights and disclosures in Sections 5 and 6, before a prize is paid.
• Each winner is solely responsible for any taxes, duties, or charges arising from a prize in their own jurisdiction. Prizes are paid by the method and on the schedule the Festival sets out at the time of the award.
• Prizes are non-transferable. The Festival may substitute a prize of equal or greater value where necessary for reasons beyond its reasonable control.
• If a Work is later found to breach these Terms, the Festival may withdraw the award and reclaim any prize already paid.

The Festival may, at its discretion, disqualify an entry or remove a Work from any screening or Festival Material if the entry breaches these Terms, if a third party makes a credible infringement claim, if the Work becomes inaccessible during judging, or if information provided at Submission proves false. The Festival will, where practical, notify you first.

The Festival name, the "AAIFF" mark, the logo, the Site design, and all Festival-produced content are the property of the Festival or its licensors and are protected by intellectual-property law. You may not use the Festival's marks or branding without prior written permission, except to truthfully state that your Work was submitted to, selected for, or won an award at the Festival.

We process the personal data you provide in line with our Privacy Policy, which explains what we collect, why, the legal bases under the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 94-V "On Personal Data and its Protection", and your rights. By submitting a Work you confirm that you have read it.

The Site and the competition are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. The Festival does not warrant that the Site will be uninterrupted or error-free, and is not responsible for technical failures, lost or delayed Submissions, or problems with third-party services such as YouTube or Google Drive. The Festival is not responsible for the content of Works submitted by entrants.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the Festival will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential loss arising from your participation in the competition or your use of the Site. Nothing in these Terms limits any liability that cannot lawfully be limited. The Festival's total liability to you in connection with the competition is limited to the value of any prize you are entitled to receive.

You agree to indemnify and hold the Festival harmless from any claim, demand, or loss (including reasonable legal costs) arising from your Work, from your breach of these Terms, or from your breach of any third party's rights — in particular a claim that your Work infringes someone's intellectual-property, privacy, or publicity rights.

The Festival may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will change the "Last updated" date above, and we will communicate material changes by email or a prominent notice on the Site. Changes do not apply retroactively to a Submission already accepted, except where required by law or necessary to run the competition fairly.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. The parties will try to resolve any dispute amicably first by contacting desk@aaiff.ai. Any dispute that cannot be resolved that way is subject to the competent courts of Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan, except where mandatory consumer-protection law gives you the right to bring proceedings in your place of residence.

• If any provision of these Terms is found invalid, the rest remain in force.
• These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and the rules published on the Site, are the entire agreement between you and the Festival regarding the competition.
• The Festival's failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it.
• You may not transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms without the Festival's consent. The Festival may assign these Terms to a successor that runs the Festival.

Astana AI Film Festival
desk@aaiff.ai
aaiff.ai