1/08/2013

'Stories We Tell' Named Best Canadian Film by Toronto Critics


Photo credit: Ken Woroner, courtesy of the NFB.

Today is Sarah Polley’s birthday. As a lovely birthday gift, the Toronto Film Critics Association (TFCA) has awarded Polley’s documentary Stories We Tell, produced by Anita Lee of the National Film Board of Canada, with the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award for 2012. The well-deserved honour rewards the talented Canuck filmmaker with a cash prize of $100 000, which we hope Polley will put towards another exciting new project. Also nominated for the Rogers prize were Goon and Bestaire, for which directors Michael Dowse and Denis Côté each receive $5000. In addition to the Rogers prize, Stories We Tell was previously honoured with the Allan King Award for Best Documentary from the TFCA. Well done, Toronto Film Critics! It’s nice to see one critics’ group get things right. And a very happy birthday to you, Miss Polley!

Press release from the National Board of Canada follows:


Toronto, January 8, 2013 – Sarah Polley has received the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award from the Toronto Film Critics Association for her National Film Board of Canada (NFB) documentary Stories We Tell.
Produced by Anita Lee, this inspired, genre-twisting film playfully excavates layers of myth and memory to find the elusive truth at the core of a family of storytellers. It is distributed in Canada by Mongrel Media.

The 2012 Toronto Film Critics Association Awards were presented at a gala dinner at Toronto’s Carlu on January 8. It’s the second award for Stories We Tell from the Toronto Film Critics Association, which also named the film as the winner of its Allan King Documentary Award on December 16.

Stories We Tell will be screened at the Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 21 and 24—the first documentary ever chosen for the festival’s Spotlight category. It will open theatrically in American cities later in 2013, distributed in the U.S. by Roadside Attractions.

Stories We Tell was developed by Polley at the National Film Board of Canada’s Ontario Centre, produced by Anita Lee and executive produced by Silva Basmajian.

Ottawans can see Stories We Tell when it returns to The ByTowne Jan. 9 & 10.