STORIES WE TELL

STORIES WE TELL

2012, 1h 48min

AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS

Los Angeles Film Critics Winner
Best Documentary

DIRECTOR

Sarah Polley

SCREENWRITERS

Sarah Polley and Michael Polley

CAST

Michael Polley, Harry Gulkin, Susy Buchan, John Buchan, Mark Polley, Joanna Polley

PRODUCER

Anita Lee

Executive producer

Silva Basmajian

Synopsis

In this inspired, genre-twisting new film, Oscar®-nominated writer/director Sarah Polley discovers that the truth depends on who’s telling it. Polley is both filmmaker and detective as she investigates the secrets kept by a family of storytellers. She playfully interviews and interrogates a cast of characters of varying reliability, eliciting refreshingly candid, yet mostly contradictory, answers to the same questions. 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. Stories We Tell explores the elusive nature of truth and memory, but at its core is a deeply personal film about how our narratives shape and define us as individuals and families, all interconnecting to paint a profound, funny and poignant picture of the larger human story.