Sarah Ellen Polley's Stories We Tell

802 Words2 Pages

Sarah Ellen Polley is a Canadian actress, writer, director, and political activist. Sarah has starred and directed many popular films. One of the films she directed was Stories We Tell. Sarah Polley's compelling documentary, Stories We Tell, mainly focuses on her mother, Diane Polley, who passed away of cancer when Sarah was 11 years old in 1990. This documentary discusses Sarah Polley’s family secrets. Stores We Tell examines the deep and eventful relationship between Polley's parents: Michael and Diane Polley. The film includes many interviews with Polley's siblings from her mother's two marriages, and other interviews with other relatives and family friends. Families create their own stories and narratives. Each family has a unique story. …show more content…

Polley calls her interview subjects "The Storytellers,” which includes her older siblings and other important figures in Diane Polley’s life. The documentary begins with Sarah setting up to film with her father in a recording booth, to narrate the documentary. It's a film about making a film which Polley considers to be an "interrogation …show more content…

The footage was taken at family social gatherings, and it shows how Diane was the life of the party. She talked to everyone and was an exceptionally social individual. She had an impact on every member of the family. Sarah Polley interviews her siblings and her mother's friends, and these stories are both significant and comical. But her conversations with Harry Gulkin unveil something more tense. Harry Gulkin is the Sarah Polley’s biological father. Harry and Diane had an intimate relationship, while Diane was married. At the time of filming, Harry Gulkin wanted to publish a memoir of Diane Polley. Michael wrote his feelings, and occasionally throughout the documentary, he reads passages aloud. He reads them in the recording studio, while Sarah guides and questions him. She often asked for

Open Document