Synopsis

Chenelva and Sheneeva are conjoined twins who live in Amsterdam and are joined at the back of their heads. Despite their disability they hold a surprisingly positive view on life. There is, however, one thing that they struggle with: their mother won't allow them to dress differently. This can be a real problem for twp 15-year-old teemaners who are seeking their own identity. Will they succeed in persuading their mother to change her mind? Can the outside world overlook their disability and dimply see them as two girls?

Director

• 

  Leon Bellaart
  

  Chenelva & Sheneeva (2016)

  As a brother of someone who was born physically handicapped, I know what it feels like to be judged by your appearance. It frustrated me that people always looked at my sister as if she was a freak show.
  In Chenelva & Sheneeva I wanted to show the girls as two individuals rather than as phenomena. To show how surprisingly positive and different two girls can be although they are—literally—bound by an unusual appearance that raises dozens of questions.

Review

The reason that this film seems uniquely astonishing is that we never had a chance to see or think about the ‘life’ of Siamese twins. When the press covers the story of Siamese twins from time to time, most stories were focusing on whether the operation went well or failed. Naturally, the one directly involved was pushed away as an object of the operation, and this process unconsciously worked in people’s mind that they are ‘unhappy because they are attached to each other.’ Chenelva and Sheneeva protest against this kind of perception saying ‘do not pity us’ and accept each other in peace. They even persuade their mother for choosing outfits according to their own taste in order to achieve ‘self-determination’. They look original, but nothing is special. People enter into relationships with many people because they can’t live alone even though they want to live as they please. Chenelva and Sheneeva must have been thinking about their identity more deeply and learnt faster how to solve problems with respect than any others do. For sisters, each other is ‘the other and myself’ and they would desperately feel the ubuntu spirit ‘I exist because you exist’. We are not different. [Kim Ra-hyeon]

Credits

• Director  Leon Bellaart
• Cinematographer  Reinout Steenhulzen
• Editor  Denise Yanzee

Contribution & World Sales

• Contribution & World Sales  Hollandse Helden
• E-mail  albert@hollandsehelden.nl