"The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls" is having its North American Premiere at this year’s festival. This wildly entertaining documentary recently won the Audience Award at the Melbourne International Film Festival and won Best Feature Film (under 1 million dollar budget) at the Qantas New Zealand Film and TV Awards 2009.
"The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls" is the first time that the irrepressible Kiwi entertainment double act, Jools and Lynda Topp's extraordinary personal story has been told. The film offers a revealing look into the lives of the World's only comedic, country singing, dancing, and yodelling lesbian twin sisters.
Described by musician Billy Bragg as an “anarchist variety act,” Jools and Lynda came of age performing on the streets of Auckland during the heady days of the political protest marches in the early 80s, and quickly joined the forefront of progressive social change campaigning for a Nuclear-Free New Zealand, Maori Land Rights, a halt to the1981 Springbok Tour, and Homosexual Law.
Their amazing story is hilariously and tenderly revealed through requisite interviews with the twins themselves, performance, and personal archival footage, home movies, in addition to interviews with family members, New Zealand political figures, fellow musicians, and comedians.
Director Leanne Pooley creates something extremely unique by featuring special interviews with some of the Topp's infamous comedy alter-egos, which are uproarious even if you aren’t familiar with some of the Twins most popular creations. Pooley’s access to the twins appears completely unfettered allowing us to share in the unique talents of these groundbreaking entertainers as their careers evolved from street performers to wildly popular concert musicians.
While so many festival films tend to deal with somber subject matters, The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls is virtually the antithesis. Part concert film, part documentary, part comedy and all heart, the Topp Twins film is pure fun, with as much poignancy and courage as the films two subjects.
