Ex-child star stirs Toronto in directorial debut

TORONTO, Sep 16: Canadian director Sarah Polley is riding high on rave reviews for her first feature film and a freshly inked distribution deal, but the one-time child actor nearly gave it all up a few years ago after failing to get an earlier film made.

After stepping back from an acting career that had put her on the verge of international stardom, Polley was having a tough time finding any interest for her script ''Itchy''.

''It was the hardest time, I felt like such an idiot,'' she told Reuters, promoting the world premiere of her debut feature ''Away From Her'' at the Toronto film festival this week.

''I'd given up so much with my acting career to do this, and I just kept hearing 'no', and I finally gave up on it.'' After struggling for three years with the screenplay, she decided to shift gears, buying the rights to the Alice Munro short story, ''The Bear Came over the Mountain'', about an aging couple whose marriage is put to the test by Alzheimer's disease.

The result is a film that has wowed critics and cemented the 27-year-old's reputation as an artist with maturity well beyond her years.

''I said I'm going to put everything I have into writing this, and if I'm not in production...I'm never trying again,'' she said.

Armed with a ''do or die'' attitude, she persuaded screen legend Julie Christie to take the role of Fiona, whose increasing memory lapses threaten her 44-year marriage to Grant, played by veteran Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent.

After Fiona decides to move into a nursing home, she begins to forget Grant, and finds herself drawn to one of the home's other patients, forcing Grant to reevaluate his level of commitment to his wife.

Polley leads the camera with a sure hand, resisting the urge to sentimentality, and coaxing performances from Christie and Pinsent that are drawing whispers of Oscar consideration. US actors Olympia Dukakis and Michael Murphy also star in the film. The film is now guaranteed a wide audience, after film distributor Lionsgate snapped up U.S. distribution rights this week.

RARE ROLE FOR CHRISTIE

Christie, who almost never takes major roles anymore, first worked with Polley on the 2001 Hal Hartley-directed ''No Such Thing'', and said it was Polley's involvement that prompted her to sign on to ''Away from Her''.

''We're friends. It's very flattering to be asked to be in a friend's first feature film,'' she said at a press conference.

That level of respect is not uncommon for Polley, who has marched to the beat of her own drum, becoming one of Canada's best-known actors even as she has openly eschewed the idea of celebrity.

She rose to prominence in Canada as a child on the period TV drama ''Road to Avonlea'', then abruptly quit the show as a teenager and shifted focus to political activism, at one point losing teeth in a tussle with police at a protest in Toronto.

She rediscovered the acting bug with a lead role in Atom Egoyan's critically acclaimed ''The Sweet Hereafter'', then took roles in a bevy of independent films, and some Hollywood hits such as ''Go'' and ''Dawn of the Dead''.

Then, with top-tier roles on the offer -- she turned down the role of Penny Lane in Cameron Crowe's ''Almost Famous'', which earned Kate Hudson an Oscar nomination -- she shifted gears once again, stepping behind the camera.

Polley said she's been surprised by the warm reception her film has had in Toronto.

''I just kind of assumed everybody would hate it,'' she said, adding she was wary of the added pressure of premiering a highly-anticipated Canadian film in Toronto.

''I think we can kind of eat our own sometimes, and I was fully prepared for that, but I'm just astonished that hasn't happened.'' ''Away From Her'' is expected to be in wide release next spring.

REUTERS