When it comes to stories about our family history, what is real and what is imagined? The question forms the basis for Director Sarah Polley’s latest film Stories We Tell.
Polley’s deeply personal film investigates the secrets of her own kinfolk and centers on the complex life of her late mother Diane, an aspiring actress whose life is reviewed through a series of interviews as each surviving member of the Polley clan relates their version of the family mythology, with often contradictory answers to the same questions. Stories We Tell won the “Ted Rogers Best Feature Length Documentary” prize at the 2013 Genie Awards and the “Best Documentary” and “Best Canadian Film” prizes at the 2013 Toronto Film Critics Association Awards.
On October 29, following the DGA's Documentary Series screening at the Guild's Los Angeles Theater, Polley sat down with Special Projects Committee Chair Jeremy Kagan to talk about the making of Stories We Tell. Also a renowned actress (The Sweet Hereafter, Guinevere, My Life Without Me), Polley’s other work as a Director includes the feature films Away from Her and Take This Waltz; and the short films Don't Think Twice, The Best Day of My Life, and I Shout Love.