Memories have a way of perverting the truth. Over time, we idealize past events to better suit our present and recount them to so many others that the memories become altered, like in a game of telephone. Each person can interpret the same event differently, thus begging the question: what is the real truth? Sarah Polley makes a thoughtful examination of memory and interpretation in her film Stories We Tell, a masterfully constructed documentary through which she looks for answers to an important part of her own life: her true parentage. Polley weaves together interviews with her family members, as well as intimidate narrations and Super 8 footage in attempt to piece together the intricate “whole story” of the past. Though that past that is admittedly shaped by it’s director and therefore not as objective as it may seem.

It’s almost time for sunscreen, something you won’t need to purchase if you plan on staying in the cool, dark space of the movie theater from June through August. But what are you going to see? How could you possibly know what’s coming out and when? Did you even know there’s a Superman movie on the way? Of course you did. Geoff and I have combed through studio press releases, had a lot of secret meetings in parking garages, and decided to talk about 6 Limited Release Summer Movies that might have slipped under the cape-filled radar. Plus, our big interview is with Cheech and Chong, who review Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond the Pines and promise to make Up in Smoke 2 if their new animated movie makes $100m in its opening week. For more from us on a daily basis, follow the show (@brokenprojector), Geoff (@drgmlatulippe) and Scott (@scottmbeggs) on the Twitter. And, as always, we welcome your feedback. Download Episode #15 Directly Or subscribe Through iTunes

The first thing that director Sarah Polley asks of the subjects of her documentary debut, Stories We Tell, is for “the whole story.” She asks for it with little fanfare and with an obvious desire to allow her subjects as long as they need to tell that whole story. But, more than anything, Polley asks for that truth honestly, believing that there actually is some whole story to be revealed and that enough time and patience and questions will allow it to show itself. It’s a wild idea, really, asking for honesty and cohesion, even when it comes to documentary filmmaking, a process that, more than anything, aims to illuminate truth and real stories. And yet, it’s also an insane demand – stories are subjective, memory so fickle, experience so fractured – can we expect people to give Polley one satisfying story? On the other hand, we can’t blame Polley for asking for such truth because, after all, she’s not just the film’s director – she’s also its subject.

My first full day of my very first Sundance was yesterday, and I’m already tired. Sadly, there were no obese snorers for me to kick like there was during my first movie on Saturday (he did not appreciate it), but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been witnessing some other sad behaviors. But let’s look at the good stuff first…

With the year’s first large scale film fest, the Sundance Film Festival, kicking off later this week, it’s high time that we started making some predictions about some of the films that are most likely to explode off the screen up in snowy Park City. Every Sundance (and, really, every major film festival) churns out its darlings, its favorites, its gems, those films that take weary festival-loving audiences by storm and become not only the talk of the festival, but the talk of the cinematic world. Of course, anyone who has ever attended even a massive festival like Sundance knows that festival buzz doesn’t exactly spell out mainstream success, but it’s sure as hell a nice place to start. While our intrepid Sundance team – myself, Allison, and Rob – have already weighed in our individual “most anticipated” films of the festival, those personal picks don’t cover the full gamut of films poised to become the big ticket films at this year’s festival. Here’s our attempt to sniff those babies out. After the break, check out the fifteen films we’re banking on to light up this year’s Sundance.

Film festival scheduling is a delicate art, a precarious balance of needs and desires, a rigorous exercise in making puzzle pieces fit. It’s hard, is what I’m saying, and it’s harder still when a fest’s programming is rounded out with so many films that sound so good – like this year’s Sundance Film Festival slate. As the fest rolled out their picks late last year, I’d spend whole mornings squealing over their listings, getting jazzed weeks in advance for films I hoped I’d be able to see. After all that, I’ve narrowed down my picks to ten films I cannot wait to see, a list that includes some Sundance favorites, some returning stars, Canada’s best film of the year, a possible break-out hit or two, and even a doc about mountain climbing, because those are just the sorts of films I wait all year to see at Sundance. Take a look at the ten films I’m most likely to shiv someone in order to see, after the break.

With Sarah Polley‘s first documentary, the autobiographical Stories We Tell premiering at the Venice Film Festival this week and starting to make its festival rounds, it’s only appropriate that the production’s first trailer has arrived. The doc was first teased as centering on a “family of storytellers” and the way they all communicate and interpret the same shared stories – enticing enough, and all the more so when Polley revealed just yesterday that both the family and the story were her own. The film’s first trailer adeptly obscures the ostensible heart of its own subject matter (which Polley blogged about yesterday), instead tantalizing us with the promise of revealing a look at Polley’s mother’s entire life by way of lots of archival footage (her mother was also an actress) and interviews with much of her family, including Polley’s own father and siblings. It is, at turns, funny (Polley directing her own father is a sweet and amusing way to reveal her involvement), sad (her siblings remember the passing of their mother in very personal ways), and intriguing (just what is that thing they’ve all joked about that proves true?). But what’s really most compelling about this brief first look is Polley herself, sitting quietly in a chair, having taking a time out from an interview that’s clearly proved too hard to handle, head in her hands. It’s a tiny moment, but enormously moving. Check out the first trailer for Stories We Tell after the break.

As is tradition (and a pretty fun one at that), the Telluride Film Festival has announced their lineup just one day before the festival kicks off in Telluride, CO. The 39th Telluride Film Festival will include twenty-five narrative and documentary films in its Main Program, with a total of “nearly 100 feature films, short films and revivals representing over thirty countries, along with Tribute programs, Conversations, Panels and Education Programs.” This year’s slate includes a number of anticipated films and many that are already gathering momentum on the festival circuit, including Michael Haneke‘s Amour, Ramin Bahrani‘s At Any Price, Michael Winterbottom‘s Everyday, Sally Potter‘s Ginger and Rosa, Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha, Thomas Vinterberg‘s The Hunt, Roger Michell‘s Hyde Park on Hudson, Jacques Audiard‘s Rust & Bone, Sarah Polley‘s Stories We Tell, and Wayne Blair‘s The Sapphires. In addition to these solid picks, Telluride will also unveil some surprise “Sneak Previews” over the weekend. Past sneaks have included 127 Hours, Black Swan, and Up in the Air. Additionally, Marion Cotillard, Roger Corman, and Mads Mikkelsen will all be honored. After the break, check out the complete listing of Telluride’s just-announced festival slate.

Last month, a press release revealed that multi-hyphenate (and multi-talented) Sarah Polley had lensed her very first documentary feature, Stories We Tell, which had been previously kept somewhat under wraps. We didn’t know much about the film back then, just that Polley had been working on it for a number of years, that it would premiere at the Venice Film Festival (kicking off today), and that it centered on “a family of storytellers” who all approached the same subject in different ways. It didn’t seem as if Polley was being willfully obtuse about the film, just that perhaps the film’s very nature was best suited for a bit of cloak and dagger (similar to something like Dear Zachary or Catfish or even The Imposter). As it turns out, Polley wasn’t hiding the plot of Stories We Tell, she was just preparing herself for the big reveal – because the family of storytellers at center of the documentary is her own and it’s Polley’s very life that is the focus of the film. In anticipation of the film’s premiere at the Venice Film Festival, Polley posted a guest post over at the National Film Board of Canada’s blog (the film was made in collaboration with the NFB and their CFC/NFB Feature Documentary Program) which reveals that Stories We Tell centers on Polley’s discovery and acceptance of the news that the man she had spent her entire life believing was her father was not, and that she was the product of an extramarital

Multi-hyphenate Sarah Polley has already lovingly crafted two beautiful feature films – Away From Her and Take This Waltz – and is now expending her directorial repertoire to include a documentary that sounds as if it will fit perfectly inside her already immensely accomplished work (we’re fans of her, okay?). That new film, Stories We Tell, is now set to debut at the Venice Film Festival, and the only question more pressing than “wait, how expensive is it to fly to Venice?” is “wait, just what is this film about?” The film is Polley’s first venture into documentary filmmaking, and one she’s been working on since 2008, when the CFC/NFB Feature Documentary Program was first unveiled. Little is known about the film, including the details of its subjects, but we do know that it centers on “a family of storytellers” that Polley interviews about the same subjects with unexpectedly different results. Stories We Tell will have its World Premiere in the Venice Days program as part of the Venice Film Festival later this summer (August 29 -  September 8). Produced by Anita Lee and Silva Basmajian, the film was made in collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and their still-blossoming feature documentary program. Check out the film’s official (though still vague) synopsis after the break.