Away from Her and No Country for Old Men are this year’s big winners of the Toronto Film Critics Association’s Awards. The group has handed best picture, director and script honors to Joel and Ethan Coen for Country, their adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s dark Texas thriller, while Javier Bardem’s admittedly ‘bad haircut’ helped him to win the best supporting actor prize as that film’s psycho killer.

The association named its picks for 2007 on Tuesday, within hours of news that one of its most prominent members, NOW Magazine film critic John Harkness, had died. He was 53.

Sarah Polley’s Away from Her garnered three awards, one — in a tie — for best actress for Julie Christie’s moving performance as a woman afflicted by Alzheimer’s and two for Polley as the director of the best Canadian film and best first feature of the year.

‘Wow! Amazing news!’ Polley said, when contacted about her multiple prizes. ‘I’ve grown up reading Toronto film critics’ writing. Their support, as well as their occasionally scathing criticism, has helped me progress as an actor and now as a filmmaker. I’m incredibly grateful to receive these awards from a community I have known my whole life. It is a huge honor.’

Ellen Page and Gordon Pinsent also received accolades from the TFCA, with Page tying for best actress for her funny, confident performance as the pregnant teenager in Juno and Pinsent achieving runner-up status as best actor for his role as Christie’s silently suffering mate in Away from Her.

‘Gordon Pinsent and Julie Christie offered sterling performances,’ commented Bruce Kirkland, president of the TFCA. ‘I’m sure that Christie will be up for an Oscar and hope that Pinsent will join her as a nominee.’

Kirkland added, ‘I’m delighted with the selections in so many categories for Eastern Promises. David Cronenberg’s masterful film shows the on-going vigour of Canadian coproductions in the world market.’ Viggo Mortensen garnered the best actor prize for his role in Cronenberg’s incisive drama about Russian mobsters in contemporary London. Eastern Promises was also runner-up for best picture and best Canadian film, while Cronenberg finished just behind the Coens as best director.

Distributor Mongrel Media handled the domestic release of Away from Her, best foreign film recipient 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and No End in Sight, this year’s best documentary choice. President Hussain Amarshi was delighted at the results, but was characteristically thoughtful about his company’s approach to its work.

‘Our job as a distributor is to match a film with its audience,’ said Amarshi. ‘Some films have the potential to draw 500 people theatrically while others can attract a million. We have to be strategic about how we release our films. There is no formula.’

Amarshi felt there was a lesson to be learned from the success of Polley’s film about Alzheimer’s, No End in Sight‘s head-on critique of the U.S. involvement in Iraq, and 4 Months‘s merciless take on abortion. ‘It sends a message to filmmakers — to put their heart into whatever they’re doing and to be authentic in their subject matter,’ he said.

The other TFCA winners were: Ratatouille for best animated feature and Cate Blanchett for best female supporting performance, as one of six Bob Dylan types in Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There.

The TFCA had already decided to acknowledge TFCA VP Angela Baldassare, who died this fall, at its awards ceremony. With the sudden passing of Harkness, the association’s 10th anniversary will have to do double duty, turning its celebration this February into a memorial for Toronto journalists whose love of cinema fueled their life’s work.