Category: Best Short Film – 2025 WSXA Paris

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: PRINCESS

Director’s Name: Thibaut Miche, Patrick Attali

Writer’s Name: Thibaut MICHE

Producer: Nema777production

Country of Origin: France

Country of Filming : France

Language: French,

Runtime: 1 hour 17 minutes

Film Description:

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: The Cost

Director’s Name: Faith West

Writer’s Name: Abby Almodovar, Jayme McMillan

Producer: Jayme McMillan

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 12 minutes 38 seconds

Film Description:

A young woman struggles to process a complicated relationship with her dying grandmother while haunted by a memory from their past.

(WINNER)

Original Film Title: Zosia wants it here and now

Director’s Name: Małgorzata Kocik

Writer’s Name: Małgorzata Kocik

Producer: Małgorzata Kocik, Radosław Rutkowski

Country of Origin: Poland

Country of Filming: Poland

Language: Polish

Runtime: 31 minutes 25 seconds

Film Description:

The film tells the story of Zosia, entangled in love with her friend. She feels that time has slipped through her fingers, that she hasn’t taken the chances life gave her. Now, she drifts between loneliness, a difficult relationship with her mother, and the love she let slip away. The whole thing feels unreal, like a bizarre dream. A story about the struggles of the millennial generation and their lost hopes. This is a directorial and screenwriting debut.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: The Reach

Director’s Name: Luca Caserta

Writer’s Name: Luca Caserta

Producer: Giovanna Gianesin

Country of Origin: Italy

Country of Filming: Italy

Language: Italian

Runtime: 28 minutes

Film Description:

On Goat Island, elderly Stella Flanders must confront her past and the Reach that separates the isle from the mainland, in a journey between memories and love that transcends the boundaries of life.

Stella Flanders is the oldest woman on Goat Island. Throughout her life, she has never crossed the reach that separates the isle from the mainland. She has spent her entire existence in that small, close-knit community that is almost as welcoming as a family and in which she has always had everything she needed. But as a freezing winter descends upon the island, Stella begins to see visions of those she once loved, calling her toward the Reach. Perhaps the time has come for her to embark on that journey she never wished to take…

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: The Surgical Treatment

Director’s Name: David Gray

Writer’s Name: David Gray

Producer: Tim Case, Constance Guillou, Charleen Manca, Josh Rothfeld, Connor Renusch

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 5 minutes 13 seconds

Film Description:

A satirical observation of the advertising business through the aspect of the pre-production process. A funny perspective on treatments and what it might be like if another industry had to go through what directors. producers and creative people go through on every project in the process of bringing something to life. In this case, literally.

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: La Passion

Director’s Name: Sami Filali

Writer’s Name: Sami Filali

Producer: Rachid Lakehal

Country of Origin: Canada

Country of Filming: Canada

Language: English

Runtime: 4 minutes 7 seconds

Film Description:

Malik, passionate about rap, finds himself compelled to delve into filmmaking in order to fully sustain himself through his art.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: The Takeover

Director’s Name: Michael Farris Smith

Writer’s Name: Michael Farris Smith

Producer: Anthony Thaxton

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 23 minutes 52 seconds

Film Description:

After having her home vandalized in the middle of the night, a truck stop waitress makes an impulsive, irreversible decision to change the course of her life.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: The Takeover

Director’s Name: Adrian Jules

Writer’s Name:Adrian Jules

Producer: Kwame Brown, Waukesha Bell, Adrian Jules, Maura Grace Athari

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 12 minutes 33 seconds

Film Description:

The Takeover is a gripping short film exploring the devastating impact of bullying and mental health crises in schools. When grieving father Billy Hunter takes a high school detention room hostage, he forces those present—a principal, teacher, and students—to confront their roles in his son Stephen’s tragic suicide.

Through raw emotions and shocking revelations, the film sheds light on systemic neglect and the urgent need for accountability and empathy. The Takeover delivers a powerful message about the consequences of inaction and the importance of addressing bullying and mental health

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: Peculiar

Director’s Name: Daniel Bontempo

Writer’s Name:

Producer: Alexandre Barros, Breno Ferreira, Mizael Oliveira Cardozo

Country of Origin: Brazil

Country of Filming: Brazil

Language: Portuguese

Runtime: 30 seconds

Film Description:

Peculiar is a film that celebrates the diversity and adaptability of Brazilian commerce, exploring the lives of three people with unusual habits and uncommon tastes. Each of them finds in the marketplace the perfect support to meet their needs and express their passions. The production showcases the essential role of commerce in connecting people and enabling unique experiences in a country as diverse as Brazil.

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: Like Bamboo, like Bamboo shoot

Director’s Name: SHINYA KAWAKAMI

Writer’s Name: SHINYA KAWAKAMI

Producer: YURIKO TANIGUCHI

Country of Origin: Japan

Country of Filming: Japan

Language: Japanese

Runtime: 37 minutes 7 seconds

Film Description:

Father who is crazy about hand-held fireworks and his ADHD son couldn’t face each other for years. After finding out that Father has little time left to live, their relationship starts changing.