A must-watch, the documentary Doppelgängers: Face to Face premieres Wednesday, October 18 on CBC Gem and CBC TV. Commissioned by CBC’s The Passionate Eye, it examines the curious phenomenon of identical strangers and our desire to meet ourselves. We chatted with writer/director Deborah Wainwright to learn more. —Noa Nichol
Hi Deb! Please tell us a bit about yourself to start.
Lake Tide Media is a partnership with my amazing producing partner, Laurie Case. We’ve been working together in the documentary realm for years.
We’re so excited to watch your new documentary, Doppelgängers: Face to Face! What/who is the doc about? What inspired the idea?
In 2022, a study about unrelated “twins” was published in Cell Reports. Media outlets worldwide wrote about it, news networks covered it, and it was in everyone’s Facebook and Twitter feeds. One of the authors was even interviewed in-studio on CNN. Why? The doppelgänger phenomenon isn’t new. What about the idea that each of us has someone (possibly many “someones”) somewhere on the planet who looks just like us, that sent our imaginations soaring right now? I decided this was worthy of a deeper investigation.
The question on everyone’s mind: how in the world did you find the doppelgängers?!
Our amazing producer, Dominique Mongeau, went on a hunt! Searches of the various Facebook Doppelgänger groups and of TikTok and Instagram were most useful. There are a LOT of people seeking their twin stranger.
What were the meetings between the doppelgängers like?
The meetings were really fun. And… sometimes a bit awkward. But mainly the two were super excited to look into the face of someone who looked just like them. They revelled in discovering the other things that were similar or uncovering the things that made them different.
What came out of these meetings/relationships?
It sounds like they all intend to stay in touch, visit each other, make it a life-long friendship.
What themes emerge in this film?
It’s very easy to think that this could simply be narcissism run rampant but in our documentary we discovered it seems to go much deeper than that. We start with the idea of identity. What does it mean to be unique? How much does that determine who we are? And then we realize that this search seems to be about the desire for human connection, for almost a familial, unquestioning, knowing of someone else simply because they resemble you. The sibling one never had. A friend who understands what you’ve been through because, perhaps, having had the same face they have experienced the same things.
Beyond the film, are other people around the world currently seeking their doppelgänger?
Millions of people are seeking their doppelgänger. One website has more than 10 million seekers. There are a number of FB sites one of which has almost half-a-million members. Yep, people around the world are looking and some reports say there could be as many as six or more people on the planet that look like each of us. How fun.
How common is this desire? How does one generally go about it these days? Any tips?!
Online. Social Media. Without it, there’s no way the connections could be made. There are also websites that look for your face in the paintings on the walls of museums (perhaps a distance relative posed for the portrait!).
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