Category: BEST DIRECTOR – WSXA PARIS 2026

(AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER)

Original Film Title: Limonada Girl

Director’s Name: Clifford Goilo

Writer’s Name: Clifford Goilo

Producer: Clifford Goilo, Klara Koradin

Country of Origin: Netherlands

Country of Filming: Croatia, Netherlands, Slovenia

Language: Dutch, English, Italian, Slovenian

Runtime: 21 minutes 28 seconds

Film Description:

A half-Dutch, half-Slovenian young woman navigates one emotionally fragile day on the sunny Slovenian coast while silently battling depression and a growing sense of disconnection.

Filmed with the support and assistance of the
Municipality of Piran.

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: THE TASTE OF PALM WINE

Director’s Name: Jean-Pierre Bekolo

Writer’s Name: Jean-Pierre Bekolo, Simon Njami

Producer: Jean-Pierre Bekolo

Country of Origin: Cameroon

Country of Filming: Germany

Language: French

Runtime: 1 hour 48 minutes

Film Description:

Ariane Boréal the richest woman in the world leaves home after an argument with her daughter over her scandalous love affair with her Cameroonian driver to wander around Paris.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: The Writer

Director’s Name: Austin Glasser, Luke Madenwald

Writer’s Name: Austin Glasser, Luke Madenwald

Producer: Luke Madenwald, Joey Horvitz

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 26 minutes 49 seconds

Film Description:

Self isolated, a writer navigates the pressure of the film industry, family, and the looming presence of his father, only to lose himself to his ambitions.

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: RISE

Director’s Name: Jessica J. Rowlands

Writer’s Name: Jessica J. Rowlands

Producer: Joe Njagu

Country of Origin: Zimbabwe

Country of Filming: Zimbabwe

Language: English

Runtime: 21 minutes 34 seconds

Film Description:

A charismatic young boy who lives on a rubbish dump in Zimbabwe must convince a reclusive boxing coach to teach him to fight to find safety and strength in a world that has left him behind.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: Memento Vivere

Director’s Name: Alberto Pablo Rivera

Writer’s Name: Alberto Pablo Rivera, Maura Abad

Producer: Alberto Pablo Rivera

Country of Origin: Ecuador

Country of Filming: Ecuador

Language: English

Runtime: 10 minutes

Film Description:

​A grieving daughter embarks on a surreal, emotional journey through memory and time, encountering the spirit of her late father to discover that the awareness of death is the greatest catalyst for truly living.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: BARRAGE

Director’s Name: Emanuele Filiberto D’Andrea

Writer’s Name: Emanuele Filiberto D’Andrea

Producer: Sean Manuel Valdo, Fabio mauro Angeli

Country of Origin: Italy

Country of Filming: Italy

Language: Italian

Runtime: 42 minutes 50 seconds

Film Description:

The red thread linking Thailand and 1980s Colombia is formed by the blood spilled by bullets. Between past and present, Kitt will face difficult choices to survive, but perhaps in the smoke of battle he will find a family.

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: HELP!

Director’s Name: HERVINE DE BOODT

Writer’s Name: HERVINE DE BOODT

Producer: HERVINE DE BOODT

Country of Origin:

Country of Filming:

Language:

Runtime: 7 minutes

Film Description:

Vicki is snoozing in her lover Matt’s arms when her husband Pépin suddenly bursts in… Chaos erupts, senses collide, and this vaudeville goes off the rails!

(WINNER)

Original Film Title: Zombie Jesus Vampire Hunter

Director’s Name: Patrice Masini

Writer’s Name: Patrice Masini, Natacha Drion

Producer: Patrice Masini

Country of Origin: France

Country of Filming: France

Language: French

Runtime: 11 minutes 50 seconds

Film Description:

It’s 8 p.m. Just as she’s about to leave her apartment, Lise, a freelance graphic designer, receives a phone call from her father. Nothing extraordinary so far… except that he has been dead for two years. He calls to invite her to his birthday. He talks as if nothing happened.
Alone in her apartment, she falters. An absurd conversation begins : funny, tender, and deeply out of sync. Very intrusive, Lise’s father once again wants to keep control and pull his daughter back into his world. Lise struggles not to become her “daddy’s little girl” again.
As the dialogue unfolds, the boundaries between the living and the dead start to blur.