Away from Her

Away from Her
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySarah Polley
Screenplay bySarah Polley
Based on"The Bear Came Over the Mountain"
by Alice Munro
Produced byDaniel Iron
Simone Urdl
Jennifer Weiss
StarringJulie Christie
Gordon Pinsent
Olympia Dukakis
Michael Murphy
Kristen Thomson
Wendy Crewson
CinematographyLuc Montpellier
Edited byDavid Wharnsby
Music byJonathan Goldsmith
Production
companies
Capri Releasing
Echo Lake Productions
Foundry Films
Hanway Films
The Film Farm
Distributed byCapri Releasing
Pulling Focus Pictures
Lionsgate Films (US)
Release dates
  • September 11, 2006 (2006-09-11) (Toronto)
  • May 4, 2007 (2007-05-04) (Canada)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
Box office$9.1 million[1]

Away from Her is a 2006 Canadian independent drama film written and directed by Sarah Polley and starring Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent. Olympia Dukakis, Michael Murphy, Wendy Crewson, Alberta Watson, and Kristen Thomson are featured in supporting roles. The feature film directorial debut of Polley, it is based on Alice Munro's short story "The Bear Came Over the Mountain", from the 2001 collection Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage.

The story centers on a couple whose marriage is tested when the wife begins to develop Alzheimer's and moves into a nursing home, where she loses virtually all memory of her husband and begins to develop a close relationship with another nursing home resident.

Away from Her premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival. It was theatrically released on May 4, 2007, and garnered critical acclaim, with critics praising Christie's performance and Polley's screenplay and direction. The film received two nominations at the 80th Academy Awards: Best Actress (for Christie) and Best Adapted Screenplay (for Polley). It also won seven Genie Awards, including Best Motion Picture.

  1. ^ "Away from Her (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved July 4, 2011.