The film won seven Genies, tying with David Cronenberg's Russian mob thriller "Eastern Promises." The annual awards honour the best in Canadian cinema.
"Away From Her" was the toast of the night, with Polley winning best director for her feature-film debut and Newfoundland-born actor Gordon Pinsent walking away with the best actor Genie for his role as a forlorn husband who loses his wife to Alzheimer's - and another man - in the critically acclaimed movie.
It was an especially sweet victory for the 77-year-old Pinsent, a longtime fixture on Canadian stage and screen who has watched from the sidelines as his co-star in "Away From Her," British actress Julie Christie, got international recognition for her turn as the Alzheimer's-stricken Fiona.
The crowd gave him a standing ovation when his name was announced.
"Last night before I went to bed, I was wondering when it would be decent to compare this performance to the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel," Pinsent joked.
He made the crowd laugh with stories about shooting the film.
"Julie left me with a gift of some sort," he said. "We had this way too short canoodling love story, and before leaving the bed, she tapped me on the shoulder and said 'Well done, Gordon.' Well, that's on the resume."
Polley expressed dismay that she won the best director Genie. She was squaring off against Cronenberg, Denys Arcand, Roger Spottiswoode and Bruce McDonald.
"The ridiculousness of me winning in this category is not lost on me ... this is totally absurd, but thanks," she said, giving a nod to Atom Egoyan, the executive producer of "Away From Her," as one of her directorial inspirations.
Christie, who picked up a Golden Globe and a BAFTA for the film and was nominated for an Oscar, picked up the best actress Genie.
She was on hand via satellite for the non-televised portion of the awards, praising Polley as the filmmaker was presented with the Claude Jutra Award for best first-time director.
"I would like to give an award to Canada for producing Sarah Polley," Christie said. "She is the most persistent person that I have ever met, and I'm so happy she persisted in convincing me to make 'Away From Her."'
Kristen Thomson, who played a no-nonsense nurse in "Away From Her," won best supporting actress while German actor Armin Mueller-Stahl picked up the best supporting actor Genie for his role as a grandfatherly but sinister Russian godfather in "Eastern Promises." Cronenberg accepted the award for Mueller-Stahl.
This year was a banner one for English-Canadian cinema in particular. "Away From Her" and "Eastern Promises" earned international acclaim, making their way onto various Top 10 lists around the world.
The Cronenberg film, starring Viggo Mortensen, picked up a host of technical Genies, including editing, overall sound and sound editing. Britain's Steve Knight also won best original screenplay for the film, while Polley took home the best adapted screenplay Genie for her reworking of the Alice Munro short story "The Bear Came Over The Mountain."
"Eastern Promises" also took home a Genie for best original score. "Kaya," from the film "Shake Hands With the Devil" about Romeo Dallaire's ordeal in Rwanda, won for best original song.
The best documentary Genie went to "Radiant City," a film about modern suburbia. The Oscar-nominated "Madame Tutli-Putli," from Quebec animators Maciek Szczerbowski and Chris Lavis, won best animated short. The best live-action short Genie went to "Apres Tout."
The hosting duties for the decidedly non-glitzy ceremony, held at Toronto's Metro Convention Centre, were shared by comedian Deborah DiGiovanni and Sandra Oh, the Canadian actress of "Grey's Anatomy" fame.
The broadcast on CanWest's the E! channel, airing a couple of hours after the awards were handed out, was at times jarringly edited, with Thomson's acceptance speech, in particular, cut off mid-stream.
Bill C-10 was a frequent target throughout the night. The controversial Tory bill, on the brink of becoming law, would allow the government to deny tax credits to television and film productions it considers offensive or contrary to public policy.
"Censorship has had a little work done and is trying to make a comeback - I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound very Canadian to me," Oh said to lusty cheers from the audience.
"Let's stop it."
But Senator Dallaire had reassuring comments for the crowd.
"C10 hasn't made it through the Senate yet," he said as he announced the winner of the best documentary Genie.
Backstage, Dallaire criticized the bill.
"I think it's more significant right now that we have policies to help and support the film industry financially then starting to move on policies that in my opinion are not necessarily in the Canadian perspective."
The winners at the 28th annual Genie Awards handed out Monday in Toronto:
- Best picture: "Away From Her."
- Actor: Gordon Pinsent, "Away From Her."
- Actress: Julie Christie, "Away From Her."
- Supporting actor: Armin Mueller-Stahl, "Eastern Promises."
- Supporting actress: Kristen Thomson, "Away From Her."
- Director: Sarah Polley, "Away From Her."
- Original screenplay: Steven Knight, "Eastern Promises."
- Adapted screenplay: Sarah Polley, "Away From Her."
- Editing: Ronald Sanders, "Eastern Promises."
- Cinematography: Peter Suschitzky, "Eastern Promises."
- Art direction/production design: Rob Gray, James Willcock, "Fido."
- Costume design: Carlo Poggioli, Kazuko Kurosawa, "Silk."
- Original score: Howard Shore, "Eastern Promises."
- Original song: Valanga Khoza, David Hirschfelder, "Kaya" from "Shake Hands With the Devil."
- Overall sound: Stuart Wilson, Christian Cooke, Orest Sushko, Mark Zsifkovits, "Eastern Promises."
- Sound editing: Wayne Griffin, Robert Bertola, Tony Currie, Andy Malcolm, Michael O'Farrell, "Eastern Promises."
- Best documentary: "Radiant City."
- Live action short drama: "Apres Tout."
- Animated short: "Madame Tutli-Putli."
- Claude Jutra Award for outstanding achievement by a first-time film director: Sarah Polley, "Away From Her"
