Wscripted Names 12 Finalists for 2026 Cannes Screenplay List
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- Wscripted unveiled 12 finalists for the sixth edition of its Cannes Screenplay List, a showcase exclusively for screenplays written by women and non-binary writers.
- An international jury curated the selections: Elisabeth Moss (Emmy and Golden Globe winner for The Handmaid's Tale), Daphne Schmon (Greek-American filmmaker and executive director of Breaking Through The Lens), and Ash Mayfair (Vietnamese filmmaker whose Skin of Youth won Best Feature at the International Film Festival of India and was shortlisted by BTTL at Cannes 2024).
- Since launching in 2021, Wscripted has championed 104 feature screenplays through the initiative, with Mubi serving as a partner of the list since 2022.
- The 12 finalists span genres from true crime drama (Ada and the Doc) and time travel romance (Last Stop on the Q) to psychological horror (Felt) and magical realism (The Girl who Cried Wolf), with writers based in the US, UK, Canada, and a UK/Germany co-production.
- Schmon said BTTL's belief is that "talent is not the problem for underrepresented filmmakers, it is the money," and that the Wscripted–BTTL partnership supports writers from initial draft through to production.
- Moss, whose Love & Squalor Pictures is producing the upcoming drama Conviction alongside The Testaments, The Veil, and Shining Girls, called the list a way to find new voices and give them "a path to production."
Why it matters: The 12 finalists gain exposure to Mubi, a major arthouse distributor, and to producers like Moss who can option their work — moving beyond mere recognition toward actual financing and production. Schmon's framing makes the structural stakes explicit: the list exists in tandem with BTTL's financing pipeline, not as a standalone accolade.
