EXPERT COUNCIL REGULATIONS

1.1. These Regulations define the functions of the Expert Council of the Open Eurasian Film Award “Diamond Butterfly” (hereinafter referred to as the “Film Award”) in reviewing and selecting films for the Film Award. Selected and nominated films must conform to Eurasian values, understood as the totality of norms, rules, and principles based on the firm tenet of the priority of the spiritual over the material, namely: adherence to traditional values and order, family foundations, respect for the older generation, modesty, reverence for religious and moral traditions, care for others, social justice, sovereignty, patriotism, altruism and creative work for the benefit of the majority, peace, goodness, love, humanity, and good-neighborly relations.

1.2. The Expert Council is a standing body established by the Academy's Organizing Committee – the All-Russian public organization “Russian Culture Foundation.”

1.3. In its activities, the Expert Council shall be governed by these Regulations and by the Regulations on the Open Eurasian Film Award “Diamond Butterfly.”

2.1. The principal task of the Expert Council is to review and select films, from among the applications submitted for the Film Award, for the purpose of determining the winners in the Film Award's categories.

2.2. The principal functions of the Expert Council are:

• ✦to study and carry out a comprehensive analysis of films submitted for the Film Award by Academy members who have confirmed their accession to the Academy;
• ✦to conduct an objective evaluation of the films submitted.

3.1. The composition of the Expert Council shall be formed annually from among recognized specialists of the country hosting the Film Award in the relevant year, possessing the requisite specialized knowledge, experience, and qualifications.

3.2. The personal composition of the Expert Council shall be approved by the Academy's Organizing Committee.

3.3. The organization of the work of the Expert Council shall be carried out by the Academy's Organizing Committee.

3.4. The Academy's Organizing Committee shall:

• ✦provide the members of the Expert Council with the documents necessary for matters under the Expert Council's consideration;
• ✦provide the members of the Expert Council with access to applications containing films submitted for the Film Award;
• ✦draw up the minutes of the Expert Council based on the results of the evaluation of films submitted for the Film Award;
• ✦take measures to prevent and/or resolve conflicts of interest among members of the Expert Council.

3.5. The principal form of activity of the Expert Council is the analysis and objective evaluation of films submitted for the Film Award. The analysis and evaluation of films submitted for the Film Award shall be conducted remotely. The remote procedure shall involve the exchange of documents through the use of information and communication technologies (by postal, electronic, or other means of communication ensuring the authenticity of the messages sent and received and their documentary confirmation).

3.6. To accomplish the tasks set, members of the Expert Council shall:

• ✦participate personally in the analysis and evaluation;
• ✦compile the list of nominees according to their own inner conviction, based on a comprehensive, complete, objective, and direct examination and on their own experience;
• ✦where unable to participate in the analysis and evaluation of films submitted for the Film Award, notify the Academy's Organizing Committee thereof within three days of receiving notice of the grant of access to the applications, but in any event no later than 30 days before the end of the evaluation period.

3.7. The Expert Council shall review applications containing films within the time limits specified in the Regulations on the Open Eurasian Film Award “Diamond Butterfly” and in the Notice of Access to Applications.

3.8. The Academy's Organizing Committee shall monitor compliance with equal conditions for all participants who have submitted applications for the Film Award.

3.9. A member of the Expert Council shall not be entitled to review the application of an organization if he or she is an employee or a member of the collegiate bodies of such organization, or if his or her close relatives hold such status, nor in any other case where circumstances exist giving grounds to believe that the member of the Expert Council has a personal, direct, or indirect interest in the outcome of the review of the application. A member of the Expert Council must notify the Academy's Organizing Committee of the occurrence of a “conflict of interest” should one arise. A member of the Expert Council shall not be entitled to discuss an application with the person who submitted it, to request documents, information, and/or explanations directly from such person, or to take any other similar action. A member of the Expert Council shall not be entitled to use, for the purpose of obtaining a financial or any other benefit, information that was not publicly available and was obtained by him or her through the conduct of the analysis and evaluation of applications. Where personal data of an individual is obtained in the course of reviewing and evaluating applications, the member of the Expert Council shall be obliged to maintain the secrecy (confidentiality) of such data and not to disclose it to any third party without the written consent of the individual concerned, and shall ensure compliance with the requirements of Federal Law No. 152-FZ “On Personal Data.”

3.10. When reviewing applications, members of the Expert Council shall vote on each application in each category.

3.11. Procedure for the conduct of the evaluation by a member of the Expert Council:

3.11.1. No later than ten days before the start date of the evaluation, the Academy's Organizing Committee shall notify each member of the Expert Council of:

• ✦the evaluation period (start and end dates);
• ✦access to the electronic evaluation system;
• ✦how to review the materials submitted by Film Award applicants;
• ✦any other procedural or technical requirements.

3.11.2. Methods of delivering the Notice:

• ✦sending an electronic message to the email address of the relevant member of the Expert Council;
• ✦sending an electronic message to the telephone number of the relevant member of the Expert Council;
• ✦sending an electronic message via messaging applications linked to the telephone number of the relevant member of the Expert Council.

3.11.3. The Academy's Organizing Committee shall provide all members of the Expert Council with access to the electronic system containing the applications of applicants for the Film Award. The electronic system must ensure:

• ✦access to the electronic system using technical devices (smartphones, tablets, personal computers, and the like) connected to the Internet information and telecommunications network;
• ✦access granted subject to identification via such system or via other identification systems;
• ✦the ability to complete an electronic expert assessment form with the date and time of completion recorded, or the accumulation of an expert's responses and their conversion into the form of an expert assessment sheet;
• ✦protection against unauthorized access to information and compliance with the confidentiality of personal data and other restricted-access information.

3.11.4. A decision in respect of each nominee for the Film Award shall be deemed adopted if not less than 51% of the members of the Expert Council taking part in the vote have voted in favor of it, provided a quorum is present. The number of members of the Expert Council required to take part in the vote for the vote to be deemed valid shall be two-thirds of all members of the Expert Council (the “Quorum”). The winner shall be the nominee receiving the greatest number of votes within the category.

3.12. The results of the evaluation by the members of the Expert Council shall be consolidated by the Academy's Organizing Committee into a list of nominees for the Film Award – three in each category – recorded in minutes signed by the Chairman of the Academy. Information on the winners in each category shall be sealed in envelopes and kept until they are opened to announce the winners at the formal ceremony.

4.1. Members of the Expert Council shall have equal rights in the voting procedure.

4.2. Members of the Expert Council shall be entitled to require that a “dissenting opinion” be reflected in the minutes, in a separate annex thereto.

5.1. The content, decision, and authorship of the written opinions of members of the Expert Council shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed without the separate permission of the author.