Sarah Polley’s critically acclaimed drama Away from Her last week became the year’s first English-Canadian title to cross the $1-million mark at the domestic box office, while it also continues to perform strongly south of the border, raking in over US$3 million on more than 200 screens.

A source with U.S. distributor Lionsgate tells Playback Daily the company expects the drama to reach the US$4-million mark by next week.

‘For specialized movies, it’s a terrific number… We’re hoping to drive it over $5 million by the end of its run,’ the source says, noting that Lionsgate has had previous success with its counter-programming strategy, citing the May 2005 release of Oscar-winner Crash.

In Canada, Away from Her made $125,277 on 38 screens for the week ending June 7 — its fifth in theaters — placing number eight overall for Toronto distributors Mongrel Media and Capri Releasing. In the U.K., the film has made US$200,446 to date, according to Variety.

The source at Lionsgate believes the film has a strong shot at getting Oscar nominations for lead actors Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent, and for Sarah Polley for writing and directing, and says the distributor will mount a ‘very strong’ Academy campaign in the fall.

Among other Canadian-mades, Christal Films’ wildlife documentary La cité interdite, from French director Philippe Calderon, landed at number two on the chart, ringing up $17,448 in receipts for its first week on 11 screens in Quebec. Meanwhile, Christal’s teen comedy A vos marques… Party! remains at number three, adding another $2,613, for a total box-office take of just over $2 million.

Meanwhile, Buena Vista’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End remained the top film in Canada for the frame, adding nearly $6 million on 420 screens, for a total of $17.9 million, followed by Universal’s comedy Knocked Up, which made $3.6 million in its first week in theaters.