Neon and CNN Films held a screening of ‘Three Identical Strangers’ Monday night at IFC Center in New York with CNN’s Brian Stelter, director Tim Wardle, producer Becky Read, and brothers Robert Shafran and David Kellman
Three Identical Strangers tells the exhilarating and almost unbelievable true story of triplets who were separated by the Louise Wise adoption agency in New York in 1961 and reunited more than 19 years later. The triplets, Edward Galland, Robert Shafran, and David Kellman grew to be inseparable once they learned how alike they were. Family and friends even described them to be more like clones rather than triplets. But what starts out as a heartfelt reunion between three brothers eventually spirals into a nightmare after Edward commits suicide in 1995 and the remaining two brothers discover that their separation was actually one of many contrived psychological experiments on twin development in the 1960s.
The experiment was led by Dr. Peter Neubauer who acted as the Director of the Jewish Board Child Development Center. He has since passed and for years participants of the study were denied access to files. David and Robert have just only recently been able to gain access to their own files in large part due to the pressure this documentary has put on the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services. The board has since made a commitment to disclosing files to all individuals involved in Neubauer’s study.
Soon after discovering each other, the three brothers quickly became America’s sweethearts in the ’80s as their heartwarming story enthralled the nation. As to why the brothers have decided to come back into the spotlight and share this story with the world again Robert Shafran says, “It was time. It was time to tell not just the happy story, but the whole story. “
And barely any people knew the whole story, but that has since changed with great thanks to the producers of the film. “Before the film, there wasn’t all that much information out there. There was a bit around their reunion in 1980. But that was all before the internet. Making the film was a process of piecing all of that together and Becky did this incredible job of investigative journalism.” says director Tim Wardle.
Producer Becky Read talked about the thorough and rigorous research she undertook to bring new information to the surface:
“It was really difficult. I had been up to New York quite early on and sort of spent a long time in various archives looking through bits of paper. What surprised me was that everything was so old that it was handwritten…it was 1945 that these notes were written, so I spent a long time doing that and just knocking on doors and sending letters and having people hang up on me. It was really difficult. For such a long time no one wanted to talk about this.”
Medical ethics and the participants right to know is at the center of this documentary. “My wife is Jewish and she found watching this incredibly difficult. The idea that Jewish doctors would be involved in a study experimenting on Jewish children was just horrific to her, “ says Wardle.
Another theme in this film is nature versus nurture. For all the brothers’ genetic similarities–this documentary explores how their differences led them to have very different fates in life. When asked what role environment played in development, David Kellman answered, “You know, when you become a parent you change, when you become a spouse you change, when you become a partner you change…” We change with our environment and with the different people that come into our lives. All three brothers have a history of mental illness but Edward was the only one that unfortunately committed suicide. The upside to this dark story is that it shows us that nurture can override whatever fate genetics may have had in store for us. That ultimately our destiny may be in our own hands under the right circumstances.
Three Identical Strangers is a Neon production in conjunction with CNN Films. The documentary premiered at the 2018 Sundance Festival and is currently on the short list of 15 films in consideration for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Three Identical Strangers will premiere again on CNN January 27 9 p.m. ET.