Sometimes, watching YouTube really can change your life.
In the documentary Twinsters a 25 year-old French fashion student named Anaïs Bordier is shown a YouTube video by her friend claiming that the woman in it looks identical to her. The girl in the video was Samantha Futerman, a Los Angeles actress, and her video described her experiences being an adopted child, as was Bordier. After doing some research, Bordier found more similarities that she and Futerman shared, most importantly that they were born on the same day, November 19, 1987, in Busan, South Korea, and both were put up for adoption
“When I looked at the video, I—it was, like, shocking …,” Bordier explained to ABC on her reaction to seeing Futerman’s YouTube video. “You can’t imagine that you might have a twin sister somewhere that you don’t know about.”
After her discovery, Bordier sent Futerman a message on Facebook, explaining the extraordinary coincidences, and the documentary chronicles the following months of correspondence. Eventually they met in London to take a DNA test, which proved that they are biological matches, according to Wired.
Futerman wrote on the two’s Facebook story that, “Anaïs and I knew that our story only happens in movies… and of course me and all my friends are involved in the entertainment industry and filmmaking. Everyone encouraged me to keep records of the process because it was so unique. Anaïs and I wanted to share our story with the world, so we decided to make a documentary with our friends.”
The twins fundraised for the documentary using two Kickstarter campaigns. The first funded the initial cost of production, including their meeting in London, while the second part helped continue to document their experiences learning more about each, and even traveling to South Korea where they were born, according to their Facebook story.
“We went over budgeting and decided that the best way to raise money was through Kickstarter because social media had already been the catalyst for our reunion. We thought we should keep our lives in the world that had given us so much already!” they wrote on Facebook.
Twinsters, directed by Futerman and Ryan Miyamoto, will premiere at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin next month. You can watch the trailer for Twinsters below.
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