KINO NA KOLINI — official contest rules

Intro

Shoot a short horror with no budget, and win a budget for a real shoot. That’s the whole contest in one sentence.

“Kino na kolini” is Ukrainian for “cinema on the knee”: a film made on the fly, with whatever is at hand. A great story in your head, and in your pocket a phone, two friends and a lamp from IKEA? Perfect! That’s exactly who we’re looking for: people who make films out of what they have, and whom a lack of money doesn’t stop.

Some people plan for ages. Others just do it. If the second sounds like you, we’ve found you!

Experience, credits, film school: none of it matters. What matters is whether your film is scary (or darkly funny) to watch.

The contest is run by SHOYAKSHO Filmhouse, FANCON and Mykolaichuk OPEN. Five finalists will each get $2,000 from SHOYAKSHO Filmhouse to shoot with, their films will be screened at Mykolaichuk OPEN in June 2027, and the contest itself will have a booth at FANCON.

The main thing: enjoy it. KINO NA KOLINI is fun! Scary fun!

Rules of the game

Who can take part? Anyone who loves film and is ready to make one. Solo or with a crew, but one person submits the application, and that’s who we talk to.

The film’s director and screenwriter must be Ukrainian citizens. You can live anywhere; if you’re abroad, we’ll discuss payment and taxes separately. If you’re under 18, you can take part only with parental consent. Entry is free.

What you need to shoot:

1. A 5–10 minute film. Credits count. Strictly: 4:59 or 10:01 and the film won’t be admitted to judging. One participant, one film.
2. Genre: horror, horror comedy or dark comedy. A love drama without a single corpse we won’t watch, sorry.
3. Language: Ukrainian with English subtitles, or English with Ukrainian subtitles.
4. Live action. Real actors, real shooting.
5. VFX and AI graphics are allowed. The monster, the blood, the smoke, the shadow in the corner and so on can be painted in as much as you like. If you know how to use AI as a supporting tool, use it!
6. Fully AI-generated footage: strictly no more than 30% of the film. This is a contest for people with cameras, not prompts.
7. Script: your own or from the closed screenwriters’ community. No script of your own but you want to shoot? No problem: we’ll add you to the closed community of horror screenwriters that came together during our recent Horror Contest. There are 150+ screenwriters there with finished scripts. Like someone else’s script? Agree with its writer and adapt it for the shoot together. Work as a crew: film is a team sport.
8. Credits are mandatory. Any style, as long as you list everyone who contributed to the film. Credits are also a thank-you for the work and the help, so this too is about teamwork.
9. Shoot with what you have. A phone, a camera, Zoom, friends, lamps, makeup: get creative. But no budget doesn’t mean sloppy.
10. Shoot behind the scenes: at least 10 photos and 5 videos from the set. More is fine. This is proof that the film was made for the contest. Without behind-the-scenes material the entry won’t be admitted. We may show the most interesting shots on social media.
11. Tell us how you shot it. With your film, submit a short text (up to 500 words) about how you made it with no budget. You don’t have to be a writer: write it the way you’d tell a friend. For example: there was no light, so we shot at dawn in the stairwell, because the window there gives warm light; the monster was played by Dad in Mum’s coat; we recorded the scream in the bathroom because the acoustics are great. Tell us what decisions you made and how the limitations helped the film. From your text the judges will see how inventive you were. We may share the best stories on social media.
12. Don’t publish the film before the finalists are announced. Not on YouTube, not on TikTok, not in stories, nowhere public. That way the film keeps its premiere status for festivals. The ban doesn’t cover teasers of your film or posts about taking part: any promotion of the film and of your participation is welcome!
13. Music and other people’s material: only with the rights. Use your own music, music under a free licence, or get the author’s permission. Don’t drop the idea of using a track by your favourite band, for instance: write to them, get them excited about the idea, that’s how film works.
14. Nothing Russian. Don’t use Russian music, films, books, characters or any other works of Russian origin.
15. Technical requirements. At least 2K (2048 pixels wide or more); ideally 4K, but 2K is fine. Horizontal video! Vertical video is allowed only if the concept demands it (for example, the character films themselves for TikTok). Format: MP4. Subtitles burned into the video, but keep a separate subtitle file (.srt) handy: we may ask for it.

Stages and dates

From Halloween to mid-January you write or find a script and shoot; in January–February we watch. In spring the finalists shoot new versions; in June, the premiere.

1. Registration: 31 October – 15 December 2026. Registration opens on Halloween. Fill in the form at shoyaksho.com: this is registration, you don’t need a film yet. Register early: you’ll have more time to find a script and a crew.
2. Script and crew: right after registration. We add you to the closed Discord community with the screenwriters of The Horror Contest. There are 150+ screenwriters there with finished horror scripts: find your story, your writer or your crew. The community is for people who shoot: if by 15 January 2027 you haven’t submitted your film and aren’t part of a crew that submitted one, you’ll be removed from the community. That’s how we protect the working climate and the environment of those who actually create. This doesn’t apply to participants of The Horror Contest: they’ve already proved themselves with the scripts they wrote.
3. Finished film: by 15 January 2027, 23:59. We’ll publish the submission form for the finished film shortly before the deadline. You’ll submit the film together with the behind-the-scenes material.
4. Results: January–February 2027. The judges watch every entry and choose five finalists.
5. Shoots funded by SHOYAKSHO Filmhouse: spring 2027. The finalists reshoot or extend their films.
6. Contest booth at FANCON: 5–6 June 2027, Kyiv.
7. Premiere: Mykolaichuk OPEN, June 2027. The festival will announce the exact dates later.

Contest news will be posted on the SHOYAKSHO Telegram channel (t.me/shoyakshoo), on SHOYAKSHO’s Instagram (instagram.com/shoyaksho) and on the partners’ official pages. Important updates and official communication with participants will go through the email you give at registration.

Judges

The judges are people who make, produce and screen films, and people who gather a large audience for the genre. In alphabetical order of their Ukrainian names:

• Alex Malyshenko — programme director of Mykolaichuk OPEN, film critic.
• Anton Skrypets — founder of SHOYAKSHO, producer of Stay Online (FANTASIA 2023 winner).
• Arkadii Medvediev — founder of FANCON, the biggest pop-culture festival in Ukraine.
• Vlad Storyteller — author of the first Ukrainian-language blog about storytelling, over 6 million views on YouTube.
• Yevhen Tunik — creator and showrunner of The First Swallows and In Her Car.
• cultovyk — horror YouTuber who tells you which horror films are worth watching, over 600,000 views on YouTube.
• Liubomyr Levytskyi — director of The Pit, Killhouse and Unforgotten Shadows.
• Oleksa Hladushevskyi — founder of Mykolaichuk OPEN, producer of The First Swallows.
• Sasha Fedin — Talent Assistant at SHOYAKSHO.
• Serhii Kulybyshev — director of Burial of the Ex, winner of Mykolaichuk OPEN 2024.
• Nika Karuso — gaming YouTuber, hundreds of horror games played through, over 80 million views on YouTube.
• Well Movie — film blogger: horror reviews and breakdowns, over 8 million views on YouTube.

The panel may grow: we’ll announce new judges on the channel.

The judges watch every film that arrives on time and by the rules. We don’t judge the budget and we don’t look at what you shot on. We judge whether the story works. A film has to make you feel something: that’s your film’s main job. Every participant will get the judges’ feedback on their film, at least a short one.

The judges’ decision is final and cannot be appealed.

Money to shoot and the premiere

The prize pool is $10,000: five finalists get $2,000 each. There are no places: every finalist gets the same.

If five films or fewer pass the technical check (compliance with the requirements: running time, genre, technical specs of the video, no Russian content and so on), everyone who passed gets the money to shoot. If no one passes, we don’t award prizes this time.

The money is for shooting, not for your pocket. With this money you reshoot your contest film or extend it into a longer version. 20 minutes is the upper limit, not a requirement: shorter is fine. The logic is simple: you shot something great with no money, now show what you can do with money.

The exception. We understand that sometimes a story comes out so complete that it can be neither reshot nor extended: any intervention would only spoil it. Only in that case, as a rare exception, SHOYAKSHO Filmhouse may direct the money towards shooting a new story by that finalist, at the finalist’s wish, with the judges’ agreement, and with a script approved by the organisers in advance.

This isn’t a second option to choose from but a special decision we make separately for each finalist. To ask for the exception:

• explain why your film can’t be reshot or extended;
• send the script of the new story as soon as you learn you’re in the final: shooting starts only after it’s approved;
• the new story must be in the same genres: horror, horror comedy or dark comedy.

The same terms apply to the new film as to the finalist’s film.

Premiere at Mykolaichuk OPEN 2027. The festival will screen the films reshot or extended with the contest money, or the new stories shot under the exception. An out-of-competition screening is guaranteed. Getting into the competition programme is possible: the festival organisers will decide once they see the quality of the film.

Rights to the contest film

The contest film stays yours. We don’t get distribution rights to it. But we may use the film itself, all submitted materials and derivatives of them (stills, clips, cutdowns): to judge the entry, to announce the results and to dress the contest booth at FANCON.

We can show your film publicly in full only with your separate consent. Parts of the film, however, we may use to promote this and future contests.

Does SHOYAKSHO Filmhouse work with the finalists?

Yes, of course! The collaboration starts the moment the funding does. Think of a startup accelerator: it gives money, support and a network. We work with the finalists the same way: the money to shoot comes from us, and with it our experience, network and support, so that your film reaches an audience. The roles are clear:

• Your part is the film. You assemble the crew, shoot, edit and are responsible for the shoot.
• Our part is funding, marketing and distribution. We give the money to shoot, help with our network and whatever else we can, and take the finished film onwards: to festivals (Mykolaichuk OPEN, FANCON, possibly others), screenings and online.

That’s the whole idea: you’ll try to make a film, and we’ll try to make sure it gets seen. Will we both pull it off? In film nobody guarantees success, so you just have to try!

1. Once the finalists are announced, we (SHOYAKSHO Filmhouse) sign a production agreement with you. “Agreement” sounds scary, but it’s a necessary formality, and we’ll get through it together!
2. You receive $2,000, in hryvnias at the National Bank of Ukraine rate on the day of payment. SHOYAKSHO Filmhouse covers the taxes on this amount: you get the full sum.
3. You shoot and edit the new film.
4. If you need advice, a contact or a tip, we’ll help! That’s our goodwill, not an obligation or a guarantee: you’re responsible for your shoot and its result.
5. We watch the finished film together.

We don’t judge the result. Didn’t turn out the way you dreamed? It happens, that’s film. Don’t worry. All that matters to us is that the money went into the film and the film got finished, whatever it turned out like. We’ll accept absolutely any result and we understand that everything can “go off plan”, so we’re ready for anything! That last sentence is our motto, ha!

You’ll have to return the money in one case only: if the film was never made and the money wasn’t spent on its production. We don’t tolerate deceit.

You’re a finalist but don’t want to take the money, or your life situation has changed? You can easily decline: the finalist’s place then goes to someone else. Access to the closed community, the judges’ feedback and the shooting experience stay with you! No obligations.

Right of first offer. If you want to turn your story into a feature, a series or anything else based on it, SHOYAKSHO reserves the right to be the first to discuss the idea with you. The decision is entirely yours: we guarantee ourselves only the first conversation, and you can work with whoever you like.

Crew and the script’s writer. You’re responsible for making sure that everyone who worked on the film or appears in it (in the film or behind the scenes) has agreed to its screening and to the use of footage under these rules. If you shoot someone else’s script, its writer must also agree to these rules, including the terms for finalists. Without these consents the film can’t be shown at the festival or anywhere else.

Everything else

When a film won’t be admitted to judging:

• it arrived after 15 January 2027, 23:59;
• it’s shorter than 5:00 or longer than 10:00, even by a second (credits count);
• it isn’t horror, horror comedy or dark comedy;
• AI generation takes up more than 30% of the film (measured by running time);
• there’s no behind-the-scenes material (at least 10 photos and 5 videos);
• the film was published before the finalists were announced, or shot before 31 October 2026 (before the contest started);
• works of Russian origin were used;
• the film contains other people’s material or music without the rights;
• the resolution is below 2K.

Right to disqualify. We reserve the right to disqualify a participant or to remove a judge from the panel at any stage of the contest, if the rules were broken or if a person’s actions harm the contest, the participants or the partners. This decision is final and cannot be appealed.

The closed Horrormakers community. Registration doesn’t guarantee a place in the closed Horrormakers Discord community. We reserve the right not to add a participant to the community, and to remove them from it at any stage, if the person breaks the community rules or their actions harm the contest, the participants or the partners.

Entry is free. But the costs of the contest film are yours.

Safety on set. Horror belongs on screen, not in life. No abandoned sites without permission, no real weapons, no stunts without preparation. You’re responsible for your shoot.

The rules may be clarified, but never to the detriment of those who have already registered. We’ll post any changes on the channel.

Force majeure. We’re in Ukraine, and the war is ongoing. If shelling, power cuts or other circumstances beyond our control force us to change the dates or format of the contest, or to postpone or cancel screenings, including at partner festivals, we’ll say so honestly on the channel and by email, and offer the best replacement we can.

Registration means consent. By registering you agree to these rules and to us using your data (name, contact details) to run the contest and to contact you.

Where to find us:

• Registration — shoyaksho.com
• Telegram channel — t.me/shoyakshoo
• Instagram — instagram.com/shoyaksho

SHOYAKSHO × FANCON × Mykolaichuk OPEN.

Shoot with no budget, win a budget!