1. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
1.1. The aim of the festival "Cinema in the palm of your hand" is to promote independent filmmaking with the help of modern mobile technologies.
The festival strives to contribute to the development of diverse creative personalities, to the formation of socially active citizens of the Republic of Bulgaria, who, on the path of understanding the cultural and historical experience, the universal human values ​​of the native and world culture and mastering modern technologies to achieve their personal realization.
1.2. Main tasks:
– popularization of universal human values ​​with the help of the wide possibilities of new technologies;
– discovery and involvement of talented young people involved in cinema and creation of a platform for their presentation to a wide range of viewers;
– support of youth initiatives aimed at the implementation of socially significant activities;
– popularization of filmmaking among young people and attracting their attention to new opportunities in modern cinema.
– supporting the creative activity of young people and highlighting new and unconventional ways to popularize technical activities with art and new media.
– encouraging the development of short films in the direction of innovation and experimentation.
– initiating a creative dialogue between young people using the means of cinema.
2. MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION
2.1. The general management of the preparation and conduct of the competition is carried out by the Board of Trustees of the “Dobri Voynikov-1856” Community Center – the city of Shumen, with the support of the Shumen Municipality. An Organizing Committee headed by the chairman of the community center Board of Trustees is established for the organization and conduct of the Festival. Its composition includes the secretary of the community center, the chairman of the jury, a representative of the co-organizers of the festival and the chairman of the “Madarski Konnik” Cinema Club.
2.2. In the preparation and holding of the Festival, various institutions, associations, creative unions, television and radio companies, periodicals, state and administrative structures, cultural and charitable funds, etc. may be involved as co-organizers.
2.3. The Festival is held annually.
2.4. The venue for the award ceremony of the National Theatre "Dobri Voynikov -1856" is the city of Shumen.
3. CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATION AND ORDER OF CONDUCT
3.1. Bulgarian and foreign citizens are allowed to participate in the festival as authors. The team that worked on the creation of the film may include an unlimited number of members, but up to 4 (four) works that participated in its creation may be registered as authors, regardless of the specific position.
3.2. The films presented at the festival should be filmed only with a mobile phone or other mobile device with a built-in camera. They must be pre-edited. At the discretion of the participant, high-quality visual and sound effects, music, captions, etc. may be used to create the final version of the film. The duration of the films may be up to 5 minutes.
3.3. The festival is intended for young and non-professional filmmakers who have not previously participated in the competition program of a film festival for professionals in the field of cinema. Students of film and television majors are eligible to participate
3.4. There is no restriction on the theme, genre and type of cinema (fiction, documentary, animation and popular science) of those registered for participation in films.
3.5. Foreign-language films must be understandable to the Bulgarian audience and be provided with an annotation and subtitles in English.
3.6. Responsibility for compliance with the copyright of the materials used in the film (literary text, music, visual material, etc.) lies with the authors of the competition work. In case of claims to the products used by third parties, all costs and obligations are borne by the authors of the submitted competition film.
3.7. Each author or team of authors can register for participation in the festival up to 3 (three) films.
3.8. After the Festival, the films and the non-exclusive copyrights for their use remain with the Organizer - National Theatre "Dobri Voynikov -1856". They can be used to promote the festival, educational needs and other non-commercial purposes. In cases of use for commercial purposes, it is agreed with the author or team of authors.
3.9. The films sent to the festival are not reviewed and are not returned.
3.10. The films must NOT:
– violate the current legislation of the Republic of Bulgaria;
– offend the honor and dignity of citizens;
– the principle of inciting interethnic enmity, racial and religious intolerance;
– contain scenes of violence and inhuman treatment of animals;
– are of an indecent, offensive or pornographic nature;
– contain propaganda for alcohol, cigarettes and drugs, etc.;
– contain commercial advertising of any kind.
3.11. The festival program includes:
– Opportunity to watch the selected films on the festival’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/mkino.org/) and in the “Videos” section of the website https://mkino.org, where viewers will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite film;
– Screenings of the films nominated for the festival’s awards;
– Screenings of the winning films;
– Creative meetings, workshops, press conferences with the authors of the nominated films;
– Award ceremony.
4. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DESIGN OF THE FILMS
4.1. The films presented at the festival should be recorded in an appropriate video format with an annotation and explanatory notes in electronic form.
4.2. The completed electronic application for participation is the only document required for the author to be included in the list of participants in the festival.
4.3. The films are accepted on the website: https://mkino.org/ in the "Registration" section, on the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/mkino.org/ after clicking the Sign Up button.
4.4. Films with technical defects in the image or sound are not allowed to participate in the competition.
4.5. The films should be in mp4 format and up to 1024 Mb in size

5. DEADLINES:
5.1. The films must be submitted for participation by October 31, 2025.
5.2. The films selected for participation are announced on the festival website by November 5, 2025.
5.3. The films nominated for the festival awards are announced by November 10 , 2025 on the festival website.
5.4. The awarded films are announced at a special screening on November 28 and 29, 2025 in Shumen.
6. RANKING AND AWARDING OF THE WINNERS
6.1. The composition of the Jury is approved by the Board of Trustees of the National Film Center "Dobri Voynikov-1856". The Jury is formed by specialists in various fields related to cinematography.
6.2. The Festival Jury:
– evaluates the films selected for participation;
– summarizes the results and determines the winners;
– announcement and result of the evaluation of the Internet voting for the publication.
– optionally comments on its decisions regarding the evaluation of the festival works.
6.3 The criteria for evaluating the films are:
– originality of the film vision and overall realization;
– social and civic activity;
– individual point of view on contemporary reality and confirmation of the positive beginning in it;
– professional skills and artistic value;
– innovative approach and solutions
6.4. The authors, distinguished by the festival jury, are awarded with certificates, diplomas, plaques and other types of awards. The participants in the Festival receive a certificate of participation.
6.5. The jury awards the following awards:
- The Grand Prize of the Municipality of Shumen /2000 BGN/
- Second Prize /1000 BGN/
- Third Prize /500 BGN/
- Feature Film Award;
- Documentary Film Award;
- Award for an animated film;
- Award for a film related to sports, adventure or extreme experiences
- Award for a school-related film
- Award of the National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts "Krustyu Sarafov";
- Award of the Shumen University "Bishop Konstantin Preslavski";
- Audience Award (determined by voting on the festival's Facebook page);
6.6. Partners, sponsors of the festival and other organizations may establish high awards. Sponsorship awards are presented by a representative of the sponsoring organization, who is presented with a letter of appreciation.
6.7. Travel expenses are at the expense of the festival participants.
6.8. All controversial issues that are not reflected in the statute of the Festival are resolved in accordance with the current legislation of the Republic of Bulgaria and regulatory documents.

ATTENTION!
If you did not participate in the final awarding events, the Organizer sends the winner a diploma, a certificate and a letter of thanks, and to the users – an electronic certificate by e-mail. All information about the dates, venue and winners is announced on the website: https://mkino.org/ and on the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mkino.org/ .

Adopted at the Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the “Dobri Voynikov – 1856” National Community Center