Gomes is one of the Portuguese directors represented in this list. The other is João Pedro Rodrigues. Both filmmakers are constant presences in the festival since their first-works: Miguel Gomes, with "Entretanto", João Pedro Rodrigues, com "Parabéns!". The two have been identified as two revelations of the new world cinema with films that have found a wide international repercussion.

But the list is also a collection of the most important filmmakers of the new global landscape, some of which were screened in Portugal by Curtas Vila do Conde (many for the first time), including: Sergei Dvortsevoy, Nicolás Pereda, Ben Rivers, Lisandro Alonso, Serge Bozon, Jennifer Reeves and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Several of these filmmakers, won awards or were present in Vila do Conde.

Finally, the list also included other filmmakers that were screened at the Festival such as Michel Gondry, Johan Grimonprez, Ben Russell, Harmony Korine, Corneliu Porumboiu or Quentin Tarantino.