The Siamese Connection September 29, 2009

Tuesday September 29th • The Siamese Connection (74-minutes). This feature-length documentary explores the living history of Cheng and Eng Bunker. conjoined twins from Thailand, who became world famous as part of P.T. Barnum's circus. The twins eventually settled in the North Carolina foothills during the Antebellum South, married two local sisters and raised 21 children. Using a collage of scenes from Thailand to Mount Airy, NC, we discover that these men still exist vividly in the contemporary imagination and have the power to act as potent metaphors for basic human experiences in both life and art. As their history unfolds through document, lyrical reenactments and artists' depictions, we uncover Chang and Eng's legacy through the course of the Bunker family reunion and explore this startling portrait of race, sexual taboo and body politics that defies popular preconceptions about 19th century rural southern life. Evidence of Chang and Eng's relations with the local citizens, their own wives, and their many slaves greatly challenge widely-held notions of Southern racial inequality and aversion to physical "otherness". Official Selection: Fullframe Documentary Film Festival, Riverrun Film Festival, Carolina Film and Video Festival, Cucalorus Film Festival, Rome International Film Festival, Athens International Film Festival, England International Film Festival, Asian Pacific Film Festival

Producer/Director Josh Gibson is an independent filmmaker and the Associate Director of the Duke University Film/Video/Digital Program. His work has spanned the gamut from narrative, to documentary to experimental and has shown nationally and internationally in film festivals and on television. Along with his wife, he runs a production company called Hardlight Limited in Durham, NC.

Official Website: http://www.chathamarts.org