Eddy, David and Bobby, subjects of award-winning documentary, “Three Identical Strangers”, clip courtesy UKJFF
The 22nd UK Jewish Film Festival is underway, with 85 films, 51 premieres, and dozens of screenings and live events around the UK. Contributor Judith Schrut has been to view.
Most of us have had the unsettling experience of being compared with or mistaken for someone we look like– but when you find out you look exactly like another person, have the same birthdate, and have both been adopted– that is quite different. And made all the more so when you find your third exact match.
This then is the tale behind Three Identical Strangers, a fascinating documentary of how identical triplets, adopted and raised from infancy by three separate families, eventually found one another– and what happened next.
The film tells the story of Eddie Galland and David Kellman’s accidental meeting when they went to the same college, aged 19, and the discovery of their shared parentage. Both had been adopted through an agency by Jewish families in New York. Their story soon became a big news item, leading to the discovery of a third brother, Bobby Shafran.
This conferred instant national celebrity on the trio, as they appeared on national television, danced their way through Studio 54, opened a restaurant together– called Triplets– and made a cameo appearance in the Madonna movie Desperately Seeking Susan.
But a sting in the astonishing tale comes as the boys– now married with children– find out how they came to be separated and the real reasons for it. This almost-fairy tale turns out to have a very dark backstory with implications and concerns well beyond just the three of them.
Spellbinding, thought provoking and beautifully made, Three Identical Strangers has deservedly won international prizes. It’s being shown as part of the UK Jewish Film Festival’s 22nd season.
The UK Jewish Film Festival continues until 22 November 2018, with films and events in London, Brighton, Manchester, Glasgow, Nottingham and Leeds. Tickets from £5. Full info and tickets at the UKJFF Festival website and @UKJewishFilm.
