Away From Her

Away From Her is the screenplay adaptation of author Alice Munro's short story The Bear Came Over The Mountain. The film, praised at its 2006 Toronto International Film Festival premiere, is a love story about memories over the course of a long marriage.

Married for almost 50 years, Grant (Gordon Pinsent) and Fiona’s (Julie Christie) commitment to each other appears unwavering, and their everyday life is full of tenderness and humor. This serenity is broken only by the occasional, carefully restrained reference to the past, giving a sense that this marriage may not always have been such a fairy tale. This tendency of Fiona’s to make such references, along with her increasingly evident memory loss, creates a tension that is usually brushed off casually by both of them. But when it is no longer possible for either of them to ignore the fact that Fiona is being consumed by Alzheimer’s disease, the limits of their love and loyalty must be wrenchingly redefined.

For Away From Her, Canadian actress Sarah Polley makes her feature screenwriting and directorial debut. The movie also stars Wendy Crewson, Michael Murphy, Kristen Thomson, and Alberta Watson. A Film Farm and Foundry Films production in association with Capri Releasing, HanWay Films and Echo Lake Prods. Produced by Daniel Iron, Simone Urdl, Jennifer Weiss. Executive producer, Atom Egoyan, Doug Mankoff. Co-producer, Victoria Hirst.