Twinsters

Samantha grew up in America; she was adopted from South Korea and never knew her family. She acts and puts short videos online. One day she gets a message: a woman living in France saw her video and says she looks very much like her. Anaïs was adopted from Korea too. Their dates of birth are the same. They begin writing, then speak by video, and finally meet. They take a test and the result shows they are twins. Samantha Futerman and Ryan Miyamoto direct. The documentary dates from 2015. Its material is largely their own recordings; the two women filmed the process from the beginning on phones and cameras. The matter it treats is adoption records; why the two girls were given to separate families is never fully explained and no clear answer comes from the institutions. The journey to Korea is the second half; there they meet adoption agencies and other adopted people. Its limit is method; the narrative is personal and does not open the institutional side enough. It was shown at festivals and widely watched online. Its emotional peak is the first meeting and the film holds that section long. Who it is for: viewers who like personal documentary and true stories. Who it is not for: the image quality is poor, the structure loose, and the institutional criticism limited.