Sarah Polley to Receive Director of the Year Award from Palm Springs Film Festival

Festivals

Sarah Polley to Receive Director of the Year Award from Palm Springs Film Festival

“Women Talking” doesn’t hit theaters until December but writer-director Sarah Polley is already attracting plenty of awards attention for the star-studded drama. She’s been named Director of the Year by the Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF), and will receive the honor at PSIFF’s annual awards gala January 5.

“The past two recipients of the Palm Springs director award — Jane Campion last year for ‘The Power of the Dog’ and Chloé Zhao for ‘Nomadland’ — each went on to win the Best Director Oscar,” Deadline notes.

Based on Miriam Toews’ 2018 novel of the same name, “Women Talking” is set in a remote Mennonite colony and tells the story of a group of women struggling to reconcile their faith in the aftermath of a series of sexual assaults perpetrated by the colony’s men. The film made its world premiere at Telluride Film Festival and hits theaters December 2. Rooney Mara (“Carol”), Claire Foy (“The Crown”), and Jessie Buckley (“The Lost Daughter”) star.

Polley is up for Best Screenplay at the Gotham Awards and more award nominations are expected to follow.

PSIFF festival chairman Howard Matzner commented, “Sarah Polley continues her outstanding work as a writer and director in her latest film ‘Women Talking.’ She brings together a stellar cast in her adaptation of the Miriam Toews book, taking us on a cinematic journey filled with raw emotions and performances.”

Polley made her feature directorial debut with 2006’s “Away From Her,” for which she received an Oscar nod for adapted screenplay. She followed it up with 2011 Michelle Williams-starrer “Take This Waltz.” Polley landed a DGA Award nomination for her 2012 doc “Stories We Tell.”

Also an actor, Polley’s on-screen credits include “Dawn of the Dead” and “The Sweet Hereafter.”

PSIFF will take place January 5-16.