STORIES WE TELL

Showings

Ped Mall -Scene 1 Thu, Mar 28, 2019 3:30 PM
Event Info
Dialogue Details:UI Documentary Studies class talkback
Series Info
Series:Women's March
Film Info
Rating:PG-13
Runtime:108 minutes
Director:Sarah Polley
Year Released:2012
Production Country:Canada
Language:English

Description

Programmed and presented FREE by University of Iowa Cinematic Arts Documentary Studies class.
Includes post-screening discussion.

"A masterful film." - Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

"A revelation. Sarah Polley has transformed the secrets and lies of her own life into a glowing artistic truth." - Mary Corliss, Time


In this inspired, genre-twisting film, Oscar-nominated writer/director Sarah Polley discovers that the truth depends on who's telling it. Polley is both a 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.