Sarah Polley doc to debut in Venice
A new documentary film directed by Sarah Polley will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, the National Film Board of Canada announced on Tuesday.
Stories We Tell is Polley’s debut as a documentary director, after dramatic features Take This Waltz and Oscar-nominated Away from Her.
The NFB produced the doc in a new program in collaboration with the Canadian Film Centre in Toronto.
Polley, a former Canadian child star, turns her lens on a family of story-tellers, and the contradictory approaches each of them takes to the same stories in Stories We Tell.
Her playful interviews capture a cast of characters of varying reliability, and examines family mythology, both its fun and its shadows.
The Venice Film Festival, running Aug. 29 to Sept. 8, has revealed only its opening film, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, a political thriller by Indian director Mira Nair. The full program will be released on Thursday.
The NFB announced Polley’s participation in the prestigious festival the same day the Toronto International Film Festival announced its lineup. The doc is also expected to earn a slot at TIFF, though it was not among films announced Tuesday.
The film opens theatrically Oct.12 in Canada.
Polley’s Take This Waltz, starring Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen and Sarah Silverman, debuted at last year’s TIFF.