How do we precisely recall memories? This idea has been a running issue through many forms of art, from the biggest of sci-fi tentpoles to the smallest of dramas and in a new documentary, filmmaker Sarah Polley attempts to capture this notion. Coming off last year’s Take this Waltz, this marks her first foray into this form of storytelling and we’ve now got a theatrical trailer for the film.
Back during its fall festival debut it was kept more or less a secret that the family Polley was capturing was her own, but now it’s certainly out in the open with this look. After getting strong reviews at TIFF, it went on to Sundance this year, where the film was also warmly received and one can see why, as this looks to be an intimate, amusing look that anyone with a family can relate to.
Check out the new trailer and poster below (via Apple):
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.
Stories We Tell arrives on May 10th.