Synopsis
In Stories We Tell Polley is both filmmaker and detective as she investigates the secrets kept by a family of storytellers. As each relates their version of the family mythology, present-day recollections shift into nostalgia-tinged glimpses of their mother, who departed too soon, leaving a trail of unanswered questions. Polley unravels the paradoxes to reveal the essence of family: always complicated, warmly messy and fiercely loving.

Program Note
Canada’s cinematic sweetheart Sarah POLLEY became one of the most notable woman director in the present day by sensually presenting intimate relationships and the complexity of desire and memory in Away from Her and Take This Waltz . Her new film, Stories We Tell , is a personal essay that delves into memory and relationships. This documentary tracks the scandalous affair of her mother, Dianne, an actress who passed away when she was young. Each member of the family becomes a storyteller who narrates a single story from a particular of view, and the audience encounters discordant and varied narratives of one incident.
This film is amazing in that POLLEY not only investigates her own family history, but also explores different ways in which a person and an incident becomes a narrative. The visual combination of recorded images, home videos, still photographs, and directed scenes begin to complete a puzzle of a woman who is no longer accessible. It also explores the (im)possibility of capturing truth and memory, as well as the narrative that forms the identity of an individual. [HONG So-in]