Writer-director-actress Sarah Polley’s autobiographical documentary explores the filmmaker’s origin story, which has remained elusive and veiled in family lore for years, especially with her mother Diane’s early passing. Through a series of interviews conducted with family members, friends, and acquaintances, Polley’s search for the truth about her identity seems to become ever more complicated as various layers of recollection and storytelling contradict each other. Shuttling between the use of multiple voices, archival footage, and re-enactments shot on Super 8 film, this remarkable work presents unreliable narrators, nostalgia, and reminiscence alike, highlighting the complex relationship between memory and truth.

Sarah Polley (b. 1979, Canada) began her career as a child actor in her home country with the long-running television series Road to Avonlea (1990–1996). Besides acting, Polley has been involved with activism. She found big screen acclaim as part of the cast for Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter (1997). As a director, her debut feature Away from Her (2006), which follows an aging couple in which the wife with dementia has lost all memories of her husband, was lauded by critics and awards circuit. Her feature documentary Stories We Tell (2012), an intimate portrait of her family history, premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Women Talking (2022) is her most recent work.