Festival terms & conditions

The Indian Pixels AI Film Festival 2026–27 (“Festival”) is organised by Indian Pixels (“we”, “us”), reachable at admin@indianpixels.net.

This Festival is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Meta (Facebook, Instagram), Google or YouTube.

Open to individuals resident in India. Entrants under 18 must have consent from a parent or legal guardian, who may be asked to confirm it in writing before any prize is paid.

Employees of Indian Pixels, jury members and their immediate families may not win prizes.

Entrants need a free Indian Pixels account. Entry is free; no purchase is necessary to enter or win.

Submissions open on the launch date announced on indianpixels.com/ai-film-festival and close at 15 January 2027, 11:59 PM IST. Late entries will not be accepted.

Winners will be announced on 26 January 2027 (Republic Day). We may change dates if necessary and will announce any change on the Festival page.

Films must be 1–3 minutes long (including credits), made mostly with AI tools, on the theme “Stories of India”, and uploaded to YouTube (public or unlisted) with #IndianPixelsAIFilmFest in the title or description.

Each person may submit up to 3 films. Films must be original, not previously awarded in another competition, and must stay available on YouTube until prizes are paid.

Films in languages other than English or Hindi should include English subtitles.

Films must not contain: likenesses or voices of real people without their written consent (including deepfakes of celebrities or politicians); copyrighted characters, music, footage or trademarks you do not have rights to; sexual content; graphic violence; hate speech; content targeting religion, caste or community; political campaigning; or anything illegal under Indian law.

Entrants must disclose the AI tools used. Films must be labelled as AI-generated where YouTube requires it.

We may disqualify any entry that breaks these terms, at any time, including after winners are announced.

To be eligible, most of the film’s visuals must be generated on the Indian Pixels account used to submit the entry, and the film must end with the official “Made with Indian Pixels” end card provided on the Festival page.

By ticking this option, entrants allow us to review the generation history and generated files of that account for verification. Entrants must keep their original Indian Pixels downloads and provide them on request within 7 days; entries that cannot be verified are not eligible for this award.

Films entered for this award are also eligible for the main prizes. One film can win at most two awards.

A jury chosen by Indian Pixels will score eligible films on story (35%), visual quality (30%), creativity (20%) and sound (15%). The jury’s decision is final.

If there are not enough eligible entries of sufficient quality in a category, we may choose not to award that prize.

The total prize pool is ₹2,30,000: Best Film ₹1,00,000; Best Made with Indian Pixels ₹50,000; 2nd Place ₹40,000; 3rd Place ₹20,000; Best Regional-Language Film ₹10,000; Best Student Film ₹10,000.

The Best Made with Indian Pixels winner also receives 3 months of the Pro plan. Every valid Indian Pixels entry receives 200 bonus credits after the Festival. Bonus credits can be used with any active paid plan, are valid for 60 days, and have no cash value.

Prize amounts are gross. Tax deducted at source (TDS) will be deducted as required under the Income-tax Act, 1961, and winners must provide a valid PAN and Indian bank account. Prizes are paid by bank transfer within 30 days of verification and cannot be exchanged or transferred.

Winners will be contacted by email and phone. If a winner does not respond within 7 days or cannot be verified, the prize may be awarded to the next eligible entry.

Entrants keep ownership of their films. By entering, entrants grant Indian Pixels a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to display, embed, share and promote the film and short excerpts of it, with credit, on our website, social media and advertising, for 24 months.

Entrants confirm they own or have permission for everything in the film and agree to indemnify Indian Pixels against claims arising from their film.

Winners agree that their name, city and film may be announced publicly.

We use entrants’ details only to run the Festival, verify and contact winners, and pay prizes, as described in our Privacy Policy. Phone numbers are not shared with third parties.

We may amend, suspend or cancel the Festival if circumstances beyond our control make it necessary, and will announce any change on the Festival page.

These terms are governed by the laws of India. Disputes are subject to the jurisdiction of the courts where Indian Pixels is registered.