The festival takes place in late winter or early spring (in 2007 it was on the first five days of March) and accepts only animated films from the Russian Federation and (after a 1999 referendum) from Belarus made in the last three years.
Because of the extreme scarcity of Russian animation in the post-perestroika era, submissions from the last three years were accepted.
The three leading winners were given wooden planks hewn by founder and president Aleksandr Tatarskiy and signed by their colleagues.
The jury situation also changed, and since 2006 films have been judged by a panel of 33 Russian animation professionals representing varied professions in the art.
Additionally, before 2009, the festival allowed internet users of Rambler Vision to see the films first and vote for their favourites.