Privacy Policy

1. General Provisions & Data Controller

This Privacy Policy sets out how the Ąžuolynas International Students Film Festival (the “Festival”), organized by Kaunas International Gymnasium Film Studio (the “Data Controller”), collects, processes, and protects the personal data of participants, educators, parents/guardians, and website visitors.

We respect personal privacy and are committed to processing data fairly, lawfully, and transparently in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, EU 2016/679) and applicable Lithuanian data protection laws.

Inquiries regarding data protection may be directed to our organizing team at: azuolynasfilmfestival@gmail.com.

2. Personal Data We Collect

When you register a film entry or browse our official platform, we may process:

• Participant Identity & Contact Data: student filmmaker's full name, age, contact email address, country and city, school or youth media studio.
• Film Metadata: film title, synopsis/concept description, recording device model (phone or tablet), video duration.
• Media Files: uploaded video files (MP4, MOV, WEBM) and promotional still frames.
• Voting Audit Data: browser-generated anonymous token and timestamp to safeguard fair audience voting (limiting each visitor to one vote per festival season).

3. Purposes & Legal Basis of Processing

We process personal data strictly for educational and festival management purposes:

• Entry Administration & Technical Verification: ensuring submissions adhere to regulations (up to 180s, phone/tablet filming, age 10–18).
• Jury Curation & Evaluation: providing the official jury panel access to entries and synopses for scoring.
• Participant Communication: issuing confirmation emails, notifying about shortlisting, finalists, ceremony details, and digital certificates.
• Festival Showcase & Public Voting: presenting selected films, titles, and filmmaker names in our online screening and public vote.
• Awards & Laureate Honors: presenting diplomas and laurels during the live festival gala on April 17, 2026.

Legal Basis: explicit consent of the participant or their legal guardian/teacher upon submitting the registration form (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)).

4. Protection of Youth & Minors

As a student festival celebrating filmmakers aged 10–18, minor privacy is paramount. By submitting an entry, the student filmmaker, teacher, or parent confirms that the parents or legal guardians have been informed and grant permission for the student's name and film to be recognized in non-commercial festival cultural programs.

5. Security & Retention Periods

All submitted metadata and video assets are securely hosted on Google Cloud / Firebase enterprise infrastructure with robust encryption in transit and at rest, governed by strict Role-Based Access Control. Contact emails are restricted strictly to authorized committee organizers.

Contact information is retained during the active season and for archival communication for up to 3 years. Laureate film titles and credits are preserved in the permanent festival archive as a cultural celebration of student cinema.

6. Your GDPR Rights

Under GDPR, you or your legal representative have the right to:

• Access your personal data held by us;
• Request rectification of incorrect or outdated details;
• Request erasure of your data (“right to be forgotten”);
• Withdraw your consent at any time;
• Lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority if you believe data processing violates regulations.

7. Contact Us

For any privacy requests or inquiries, please contact: