Away From Her swept the board at the Canadian film industry's Genie Awards on Monday night, taking home seven of the top prizes including Best Motion Picture.

Actress-turned-director Sarah Polley is to be honored by the Canadian film industry for her directorial debut Away From Her.

In Away From Her, a long-married couple must deal with the wife's (Julie Christie) memory loss and her insistence on being taken to a rest home. The decision stirs up torrents of guilt and regret in the husband's (Gordon Pinsent) heart.

Capsule reviews of films opening this week: Away From Her - It's an intriguing paradox: In quiet, understated ways, this film marks the debut of a powerfully talented new director.

Away From Her presents an intriguing paradox: In quiet, understated ways, it marks the debut of a powerfully talented new director. Sarah Polley, the 28-year-old Canadian actress best known for roles in Go and The Sweet Hereafter, steps behind the camera for her first feature with the confidence and precision of a seasoned veteran.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Becoming big in Hollywood has never been Sarah Polley's agenda. It shows in her acting choices, almost exclusively small, intimate tales made far outside the American studio system. And it shows in the actress' directing debut with Away From Her, a mature, thoughtful but downbeat drama about a woman (Julie Christie) succumbing to Alzheimer's and the impact it has on her husband (Gordon Pinsent).

Away From Her is the lyrical screenplay adaptation of celebrated author Alice Munro's short story The Bear Came Over The Mountain, a beautifully moving love story that deals with memory and its circuitous, enigmatic paths over the course of a long marriage. Beloved by critics and audiences alike when it premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, the film marks the arrival of an exciting new female filmmaker in Canadian actress Sarah Polley, here making her feature screenwriting and directorial debut.