Sarah Polley’s Documemoir Stories We Tell: The Refracted Subject

Alvin Sherman Library, Room 4009

In her stunning meta-documemoir, Sarah Polley investigates her deceased mother's secret life through the lens of artifacts and interviews with others. By employing postmodern stylistics—super-8 home footage combined with faux home footage, and interspersed with photographs, dramatic “scenes,” emails, and a narrative within a narrative—the filmmaker-actor manages to weave together the complex tapestry of her own life story. At mid-life, through the making of the film, Polley arrives at an approximation of the “truth” about her muddled parentage and, more importantly, its impact on her own constructed identity.