"Oscar buzz" starts early with a Canadian flavour. On September 11, Mongrel Media releases Away from Her on DVD. The feature directorial debut from actress Sarah Polley is one of the best reviewed films of the year, and a likely Oscar contender.
Adapted from Alice Munro's story The Bear Who Came Over the Mountain, the film is about Fiona (Julie Christie) and Grant (Gordon Pinsent), and how they deal with Fiona's recent Alzheimer's diagnosis.
As the film unfolds, it transcends the pitfalls of "issue" dramas by avoiding a fixation with a movie-of-the-week, symptom/treatment style narrative. The film focuses instead on the nature of Fiona and Grant's forty-four year marriage and the ways in which it changes and remains the same.
Away From Her will be available in a two-disc edition that will include a short film of Polley's.
