Actress Emmy Rossum was honored with the Breakthrough Award at Carmel International Film Festival on Friday for her powerful performance in the ALS drama You're Not You.
In the film Rossum plays a college student named Bec, who is tasked with caring for a classical pianist who has been diagnosed with ALS (Hilary Swank). While speaking about the film, the actress called it a "non-romantic love story."
"It's about two women who become friends and realize they need each other and that they can learn from each other how to live. For me it was super powerful," Rossum said.
Festival co-founder Thomas Burns praised the feature and its performances stating that "a great film is when you can relate to it on a personal level and that's what that film did for me."
"Both performances were remarkable, and, obviously, it's a very current topic, but I think it is about the relationship and that's what's appealing on a much broader basis," he said. "That's the mass appeal."
On the subject of receiving the award Rossum said that, "being recognized by the community is a wonderful feeling."
"But you can never do work expecting that somebody will applaud you. My motto is always to just put it all out there and if they like it, they like it and if they don't, they don't. In this case people liked it and it's a really good feeling."
The 28-year-old actress currently stars in the Showtime dramedy Shameless, as Fiona Gallagher.You're Not You opens in theaters on Dec. 12.