Our favorite collaborator from Curaçao, Peter Jordens, has sent us detailed information and an excellent, brief review the film Le Dernier repas (directed by Haitian Canadian filmmaker Maryse Legagneur), winner of the Yellow Robin Award at the recent Curaçao International Film Festival (CIFF).

The nominees for the Yellow Robin Award 2026 were:

• If We Don’t Burn, How Do We Light Up the Night – Kim Torres (Costa Rica)
• The Last Meal – Maryse Legagneur (Haiti)
• Mad Bills to Pay – Joel Alfonso Vargas (USA)
• Monikondee – Tolin Alexander, Lonnie van Brummelen & Siebren de Haan (Suriname)
• Olivia and the Clouds – Tomás Pichardo Espaillat (Dominican Republic)
• Soul of the Desert – Monica Taboada Tapia (Colombia)
• Zion – Nelson Foix (Guadeloupe)

[See review, more information, and links to trailers below.]

The Curaçao International Film Festival (CIFF) has announced at https://www.curacaoiff.com/curacao-international-film-festival-2026-reveals-winners-across-its-competitions that ‘Le dernier repas’ by Haitian-Canadian director Maryse Legagneur has won the Yellow Robin Award at the 12^th CIFF, held April 14-19, 2026. CIFF’s Yellow Robin Award recognizes emerging filmmakers from the Caribbean, the Caribbean basin, and the Caribbean diaspora. Actress Marie-Evelyne Lessard, who plays Vanessa in the film, was present at the 12^th CIFF for Q&A and received the award on behalf of Legagneur.

‘Le Dernier repas’ [The Last Meal] has also won the following awards:

• Grand Prix, 13^th Quebec City Film Festival (2024)

• Best Narrative Feature, 20^th Montreal International Black Film Festival (2024)

• Marimbas Award (Top Jury Prize), 42^nd Miami Film Festival (2025)

• Best First Feature, Kingston Canadian Film Festival (2025)

• Best Feature Film, 20^th Caribbean Tales Film Festival (Toronto, 2025)

• Jury Prize, Cinéstar International Film Festival (Guadeloupe, 2025)

Peter Jordens writes: An undertaking that took Legagneur 12 years to complete, the film is well-researched, very well-crafted, and well-acted. ‘Le dernier repas’ connects the story of a Haitian family in modern-day Canada to a painful episode of Haiti’s history, and asks the question: when are we truly free? The film compels Caribbean viewers to remember and reexperience a shared past and to realize the effects of transgenerational trauma. But it also offers hope, showing that the cycle can be stopped, that the chains can be broken, if we realize that freedom isn’t only about being free from, but especially about being free with. And here, the film delightfully presents Haitian cuisine as a source of bonding, resilience, and healing.

Le Dernier repas [The Last Meal]

Director: Maryse Legagneur

Canada, 2024

Drama

1h 51m

French and Haitian Creole

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqwvtqsSbuE, https://vimeo.com/995087491

Website https://ledernierrepas-lefilm.com