Why Sarah Polley Won't Do Interviews For New Doc 'The Stories We Tell'

The trailer for Sarah Polley's latest film, "The Stories We Tell," was released on Wednesday. The film illustrates her family's history through candid interviews, personal photographs, and video footage. The poignant documentary wil screen at the Venice Film Festival as well as the Toronto Film Festival.

In a post on the National Film Board's blog, Polley recounts the inner turmoil that led to the film. In 2006, she discovered that she was the product of an affair between her late mother and a man outside of the family. Due to the personal nature of "The Stories We Tell," Polley has declined to be interviewed about the film until its theatrical release.

"I worry about seeing my deepest feelings about my life taken out of context or shortened or made to fit into someone's already written story," says Polley. "And I have spent five years deciding, frame by frame and word by word, how to tell this story in this film. I'd hate to see my inability to think before I speak wipe out years of work with one stupid comment that I haven't thought through."

Earlier this year, Polley's film "Take This Waltz" (which she wrote and directed) premiered to favorable reviews. The engrossing drama, starring Michelle Williams and Seth Rogan, first debuted at the Toronto Film Festival in 2011 and was later shown at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.

Polley got her Hollywood start as an actress, starring in well-received films like "Go" (1999), "My Life Without Me" (2003), and "Dawn of the Dead" (2004). In 2007, she wrote and directed her first feature length film, "Away From Her." Based on Alice Munro's short story "The Bear Came Over the Mountain," the extraordinary film tells the heartbreaking story of a longtime married couple who are forced to face reality.

"Away From Her" star Julie Christie earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination for the film while Polley received a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film landed on several 'top ten' lists that year.

The Hollywood Reporter announced in January that the 33-year-old is set to adapt Margaret Atwood's novel "Alias Grace." The film is based on the chilling true story of a double murder that took place in 1840s Canada, in which a 16-year-old housemaid named Grace Marks was convicted of murdering her employer Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper/mistress Nancy Montgomery.

Polley, who was born and raised in Canada, was inducted into the country's Walk of Fame in 2010. Both "Away From Her" and "Take This Waltz" were filmed there. Since "Alias Grace" is set in Canada, and Atwood too is Canadian, the region seems a likely shooting location for the project.