Actor and filmmaker Sarah Polley says her own family secret inspired her new documentary, Stories We Tell.
The doc, which debuted today at the Venice Film Festival, probes the secrets behind a family of storytellers.
In a guest blog post on the National Film Board of Canada website, the Oscarnominated writer-director reveals she made the doc after learning the identity of her biological father.
The Toronto-based star says she had long suspected her late mother, who died when Polley was 11, may have had an affair that led to her conception.
But she didn't know for sure until 2006, when a DNA test confirmed a man she had met almost by accident was her biological father.
Polley says she kept the information to herself for a year and revealed it to the father she grew up with after learning a journalist knew the secret.
The director of Away From Her and Take This Waltz says the story wasn't published because she tearfully begged the journalist not to print it.
As more people heard of and discussed the revelation, Polley became fascinated with how stories take on a life of their own and decided to make a film about that concept.
