Haitian-Canadian writer-director-producer Yasmine Mathurin has won the 2023 TIFF-CBC Films Screenwriter Award for her “deeply personal” screenplay Sorry Pardon Madame.

The award is for creators at an early stage of their project and comes with a $15,000 grant and professional support from a script consultant, as well as access to the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and TIFF Industry Conference.

Mathurin was also feted at the TIFF-CBC Films: Celebrating Screenwriters Cocktail event on Tuesday (March 21) at TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto.

Now in its sixth consecutive year, the TIFF-CBC Films Screenwriter Award funds the development of “high-quality productions that reflect, represent, and reframe diverse perspectives through character-driven stories at the core of the Canadian experience,” according to a news release.

The award is open to experienced screenwriters who are from equity-deserving communities, women and/or persons with a disability. Jury members read and rate screenplay applications anonymously, basing projects on the quality of the script; the originality of the idea, story structure, dialogue, and characters; and likely audience appeal and achievability.

The TIFF–CBC Films Screenwriter jury called Sorry Pardon Madame a “riveting, vivid, and deeply moving portrayal of a coming-of-age story,” in a news release.

The screenplay “seamlessly and authentically weaves in the new immigrant experience, the search for belonging, the balancing of duty and responsibility within the family, and the role that language plays in shaping our lived experience,” the jury added.

In a statement, Mathurin said the story is “a deeply personal one that touches on the coming-of-age and being a hyphenated Haitian-Canadian.”

“So for me to receive this recognition, amongst the fierce competition of other amazing projects that were submitted, is deeply affirming to my process and my journey as a screenwriter,” added Mathurin, whose first feature documentary, One of Ours, won the Hot Docs Special Jury Prize — Canadian Feature Documentary in 2021, and was nominated for three Canadian Screen Awards in 2022.

Mathurin previously worked as an associate producer with CBC Podcasts and is writing her first fiction feature film with the support of the Chanel Women Writers’ Network grant, said the release.

She was chosen for the TIFF-CBC Films Screenwriter by a jury comprising Gosia Kamela, head of CBC Films; Emma Bishop, programming administrator, scripted Gem originals and CBC Films; Paula Devonshire, writer and producer; Larisa Gutmanis, films program curator, screenwriter, and TMU lecturer; Boris Rodriguez, filmmaker and winner of the 2022 TIFF–CBC Films Screenwriter Award; Jane Kim, TIFF Industry Programming producer; and Anita Tavakol, TIFF talent development manager.

Photo by Wade Hudson