SAT NOV 17

1:30 PM

RICHMOND HILL CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

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CHA CHA FOR TWINS

CANADIAN PREMIERE | RATED PG

Directors: Yang Yi-Chien, Jim Wang | Taiwan 2012 | 101:00 | 35mm | Mandarin w/ English Subtitles
Producers: Oliver Chen, Chai-hao Hsu, Hank Tseng | Writer: Yang Yi-Chien | Cinematographer: Fuji Fu | Editor: Adong Chen
Sound: Du-Che Tu | Music: Wan-Chien Yang | Cast: Huang Peijia, Paul Chiang, Yang Lun Ou

Best Narrative Feature, Best Screenplay, Taipei Film Festival 2012

Adolescence is about defining one’s self and identity. Most struggle through it, finding ways to try on different identities, be it goth, jock, or drama geek, until one sticks. Imagine how hard it would be to feel like an individual when people fail to differentiate between you and your twin sibling!

Poni and Mini do everything together: they go to the same school, get good grades, and play on the basketball team. But Poni, in typical teenage fashion, starts to feel angst about being so inextricably linked to her identical sister, and how it stands in her way of her individual identity. What was once convenient and even advantageous had become a burden, especially once they each catch the attention of two very different boys: the debate team captain and the school’s resident knuckle head, who can’t tell Poni and Mini apart.

Cha Cha For Twins extends the recent tradition of a new Taiwanese cinema that favours accessible entertainment and that includes films that have appeared at Reel Asian like Au Revoir Taipei (Reel Asian 2010) and Jump Ashin! (Reel Asian 2011). Despite the commonality of multiples in the film landscape (Octomom, Jon & Kate Plus 8 or the Doublemint twins) the rarity of twins informs our cultural fascination with them. Cha Cha For Twins continues the theme of twins-induced mayhem in films like The Parent Trap (1961, 1998). But Writer and co-Director Yang Yi-Chien, an award-winning novelist who based the film on her own experiences with a twin sibling, reaches into the emotional side of relationships between twin siblings and other people in this story about growing up while not forgetting who is important to you.

- Aram Siu Wai Collier

ABOUT THE DIRECTORS:

Yi-Chien Yang, is a violinist and filmmaker from southern Taiwan. Yang’s first screenplay Father’s Buddha was adapted from her second novel. Yang’s first short film 2+1 was selected in the Young Filmmaker Showcase in Taiwan Cinefest London 2009. Cha Cha For Twins is her first feature film. Jim Wang holds an M.A. from the School of Journalism of National Taiwan University. He directed My Space Grandma which gained three wins and two nominations in the 44th Golden Bell Awards.

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