Date of Birth: 8 January 1979 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada

theOscarSite Bio: Sarah Polley was born into a show business family: her father, Michael Polley (b. 1933), appeared with her in the movie THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN (1988) and on the television series "Road to Avonlea" (1989); and her mother, Diane Polley (1935-1990), was an actress and casting director. It was her mother's connections that launched Sarah, at her own insistence, on an acting career at the age of four, following in the footsteps of her older brother Mark Polley. A second brother, John Buchan, is a casting director and producer.

Her career as a child actress shifted into high gear when she was cast as the Cockney waif Jody Turner in "Lantern Hill" (1990, TV), for which she won a Gemini Award, the Canadian equivalent of the Emmy®, in 1992. Produced by Kevin Sullivan, the film was based on the book by Lucy Maud Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables. When Sullivan created a television series based on Montgomery's work, he cast Polley in the lead role of Sara Stanley in "Road to Avonlea" (1989). The series propelled Polley into the first rank of Canadian TV stars and made her independently wealthy by the age of 14.

As an actor, Polley's breakthrough role was her portrayal of Nicole in Atom Egoyan's THE SWEET HEREAFTER (1997). That was her second film with Egoyan, after EXOTICA (1994), and he had written the part with her in mind when he adapted Russell Banks' novel. Polley received her first Best Actress Genie nomination from Canada's Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, and the Best Supporting Actress award from the Boston and Chicago Societies of Film Critics for THE SWEET HEREAFTER. The buzz continued at the Sundance Festival, where her first starring role in the film GUINEVERE (1999) was showcased, and the entertainment media corwned her the "It Girl" of 1999.

Polley chose to return to Canada and appear in unusual, independent films such as Michael Winterbottom's THE CLAIM (2000), Kathryn Bigelow's THE WEIGHT OF WATER (2000), David Cronenberg's EXISTENZ (1999), Hal Hartley's NO SUCH THING (2001), Thom Fitzgerald's THE EVENT (2003), and Isabel Coixet's MY LIFE WITHOUT ME (2003) as well as DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004), based on George A. Romero's original script. By the end of 2004 she had filmed two additional projects, Wim Wenders' DON'T COME KNOCKING (2005) with Sam Shepard, Jessica Lange and Tim Roth, which premiered at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, and Isabel Coixet's LA VIDA SECRETA DE LAS PALABRAS / THE SECRET LIFE OF WORDS (2005), opposite Tim Robbins. Both films were shown at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. In 2005 she also appeared as Selma in Sturla Gunnarson's Canada/UK/Iceland production, BEOWULF & GRENDEL. Polley returned to Canadian television in 2006, appearing in the recurring role of Sophie in the series "Slings and Arrows".

Upcoming acting projects include Abigail Adams in the 2008 TV mini-series "John Adams" opposite Paul Giamatti (2008), Jaco van Dormael's MR. NOBODY (also 2008), and a starring role opposite Adrien Brody in Vincenzo Natali's SPLICE (2009).

Polley has been writing and directing in Canada since 1999. She directed the short films THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE (1999), and then wrote, directed and produced DON'T THINK TWICE (also 1999). After attending the Canadian Film Centre's director's program in 2001, she wrote, directed and co-produced I SHOUT LOVE. The film won a 2003 Genie Award for Best Live Action Short Drama. In 2002, Polley wrote and directed "The Harp", one of the episodes of "The Shields Stories" for television. In November 2005, it was announced that the Harold Greenberg Fund was financially backing 24 film scripts in development, including one by Polley. She adapted the Alice Munro short story "The Bear Came Over the Mountain," which was rechristened AWAY FROM HER (2006). Polley directed AWAY FROM HER, her first feature directing assignment. However, she had worked with star Julie Christie twice before: co-starring in NO SUCH THING in 2001 and the Goya Award-winning THE SECRET LIFE OF WORDS in 2005.

· Achievement in Writing - Adapted Screenplay 2007: AWAY FROM HER