After a brief stint as a print and then television journalist ( CBC Television ’s '' The Journal '' ) , Rozema directed her first feature , '' I 've Heard the Mermaids Singing '' ( 1987 ) , a serious comedy about a socially inept Girl Friday ( Sheila McCarthy as Polly ) , which made one of the most outstanding feature debuts in the history of Canadian cinema . At the 1987 Cannes Film Festival , '' I ’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing '' won the '' Prix de la Jeunesse '' . In 1993 , the Toronto International Film Festival ranked it ninth in the top 10 Canadian films of all time , with Rozema becoming the first female director to have a film on the list . The film did not appear on the updated 2004 version
1987 Cannes Film Festival
1987 Cannes Film Festival
Patricia Rozema