Cindy Widner from the Austin Chronicle also has written an article based on an interview she did:

It’s possible you think you are not interested in a documentary about yodeling Kiwi lesbian twins. You would, in that case, be very, very wrong. “Sometimes, you’ve got to take a gamble on something,” says Jools Topp on the phone from her ranch on New Zealand’s north island. “If you’ve got ‘lesbian singing duo from New Zealand that’s political,’ you might think, ‘Wow, that’s not something I’d want to see.’ Then again, if you go, you might be pleasantly surprised, and sometimes that’s the best thing.” Read the rest of the article here.

Twins with The Leader of the Band NCMA

Jools and I were presented with the Country Music Legend Award  at the National Country Music Awards in Hamilton

” We don’t really think of ourselves as Legends but its a real honour ”

We had a fantastic time at the Awards and thanks to the band and all the organizing team.

Thank you LA!

Read the reviews:
L.A.’s Outfest Screens “The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls” | Queer Sighted | Kurt Reighley
Outfest Reviews: Topp Twins | SheWired | Rebekah Allen
Reverend’s Previews: Outfest 2010 celebrates LGBT diversity | Movie Dearest | Rev. Chris Carpenter

The Topp Twins at the Castro | Credit: Steven Underhill

The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls has won the Audience Award for Documentary at the Frameline Film Festival Awards in San Francisco.

The audience in the beautiful Castro Theatre cheered and stomped at the film’s screening which we were told was a good sign…and a good sign it turned out to be! If you weren’t there you can pretend you were in the audience by reliving it through this video of Jools & Lynda singing Untouchable Girls!

Lynda & Jools at Frameline34 | Credit: Frameline Film Festival

Leanne Pooley, Lynda, Jennifer Morris, Jools & Arani Cuthbert | Credit: Ana Grillo

Lynda & Jools on stage at Frameline | Credit: Ana Grillo

The Frameline Audience | Credit: Ana Grillo

Read the reviews from Frameline:

Something for everyone at Frameline34 Film Fest | San Francisco Chronicle | David Wiegand
Love stories, politics, yodeling and more: Frameline34 short takes | San Francisco Bay Guardian | Cheryl Eddy

The Topp Twins attended the screening at NewFest in New York where they won Best Documentary. TVNZ’s Close Up team were there to catch up with them. Watch the video and see the photos below:

Lynda & Jools Topp at NewFest Film Festival | Credit: NewFest

Lynda & Jools perform at NewFest Film Festival | Credit: NewFest

Lynda & Jools perform at NewFest Film Festival | Credit: NewFest

Lynda & Jools perform at the NewFest Film Festival | Credit: NewFest

Jools performing at NewFest Film Festival | Credit: NewFest

The NewFest crowd up on their feet! | Credit: NewFest

Why does it take really cool things forever to be on U.S. radars? We’ve certainly been missing the boat by not recognizing the amazing comedic and musical genius of lesbian New Zealanders

Read the full article written by Alley Hector at AfterEllen.com.

Fledgling filmmaker, co-founder of Seattle’s original Festival of Films by Women Directors, and former KCTS staffer Lena Sharpe was working on a film in Washington State when her plane crashed, tragically killing everyone aboard. In tribute to her efforts in bringing the work of women filmmakers to prominence locally, this special award is given to the film by a woman director that receives very high votes from the public in the balloting for the Golden Space Needle Audience Awards.

The film was also the First Runner Up for the Best Documentary Golden Space Needle Award.

The film will screen one more time at the SIFF Best of Fest Weekend:
19 June 2010 | 11.00am | SIFF Cinema

Thank you SIFF!

The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls has won the jury prize for Best Documentary at the Newfest Film Festival in New York. Woohoo!

Fellow New York based Kiwi Gemma Gracewood has written a wonderful account of the Newfest screening on her blog.

“I just bloody love the Topp Twins. I love their honesty, their swift quips and their, well, what’s the opposite of subersive humour? Because their dirtiest secret is that they’re not subversive. They are, and always have been, front and centre in their beliefs, causes and intention.” (Gemma Gracewood, Too Much Personality)

Clinton Theater | Credit: Q Doc

Lynda & Jools with Russ Gage, Q Doc Co-Director, at the Savoy | Credit: Q Doc

Arani talks with David Weissman, QDoc Co-Director, at the Savoy | Credit: Q Doc

. . . then two nights later the Topp Twins played to a full house at the Mission Theater.

The Ginghams perform at the Mission Theater, Portland | Credit: Q Doc

The Ginghams perform at the Mission Theater, Portland | Credit: Z Doc

The Topp Twins perform at the Mission Theater, Portland | Credit: Q Doc

Read the lovely review written by Alley Hector at qPDX.com.

“Somehow the Topp Twins truly encompass a universal message of love, peace, and environmental activism that is refreshing and energizing. I’d elect them president and put them in charge of the BP oil spill if I could. But I’m a little smitten…”
(Topp Twins Live Review, Alley Hector, qPDX.com)

10 June 2010 | 7.30pm | SVA Theater 1 | The Topp Twins and Arani Cuthbert in attendance

The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls review in Time Out

Arani and the twins attended the festival and according to the Mendocino Film Festival on Twitter, “The Topp Twins were treated like the ROCKSTARS they are at the Mendocino Cafe last night! This town is so great…”

Lynda & Jools performing in Mendocino | Credit: John Birchard

Lynda & Jools perform in Mendocino | Credit: John Birchard

Lynda & Jools at the Mendocino Film Festival | Credit: John Birchard

Lynda & Jools with Ronnie Gilbert and fans of the Mendocino FIlm Festival | Credit: John Birchard

Lynda & Jools with Ronnie Gilbert | Credit: John Birchard

Watch Elvira Kurt interview the twins and Leanne Pooley in Toronto when they attended the Toronto International Film Festival last year:

Read reviews from the festival:
Inside Out 2010: Topp Twins, Movie Moxie
Review: The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, Toronto Film Scene, Pam Fossen
New Zealand’s singing, yodelling lesbian twins star in hit doc, The Star, Linda Barnard
Topp Twins, NOW Magazine, Glenn Sumi

Jools, Arani & Lynda at SIFF | Photo credit: SIFF

Arani Cuthbert, the film’s producer, says, “The screening on Sunday night went down very well… about 600 people in a lovely old theatre, very much like a KIWI audience. This part of the US is so like NZ. Lovely to hear people laughing at all the right places, lots of wonderful comments afterwards.”

Watch the interview with Lynda & Jools on the SIFF website

SIFF Banner | Photo credit: Diva Films

Lynda & Jools Topp perform at Q&A | Photo credit: SIFF

Jools Topp performing at Q&A | Photo credit: SIFF

SIFF audience | Photo credit: Diva Films

Lining up for merchandise | Photo credit: Diva Films

Lynda & Jools Topp signing merchandise | Photo credit: SIFF

Lynda & Jools Topp | Photo credit: SIFF

View more pics on the SIFF Flickr stream.

UPDATE: Listen to the audio from an interview with Movie Critic Tom Tangney

Read the reviews from SIFF:
May 30 at SIFF, The Seattle Times, Michael Upchurch
SIFF “Face the Music” preview: The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, KEXP.org, Leigh Bezezekoff
SIFF report #2, Playback stl, Sarah Boslaugh
SIFF Review: The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, film.com, Christine Champ
SIFF Sighting: The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, Cinebanter
SIFF Spotlight: The untouchable Topp Twins, Art by Zee
SIFF Take: The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, Three Imaginary Girls
SIFF Week 2: Picks & Pans, Seattle Weekly, Gavin Borchert
The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, The Stranger, Dominc Holden
The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, Seattle Gay News
What to see this week at the Seattle Film Festival, HeraldNet, Robert Horton
Your Daily SIFF: Oops! Here’s the info on Topp Twins and Joan Rivers, Seattle Gay Scene, Michael Strangeways

Jools and Lynda Topp along with Arani Cuthbert, their manager and producer of The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, will be attending the Seattle Film Festival, Mendocino Film Festival, Portland Queer Documentary Film Festival, Newfest Film Festival and Frameline Film Festival. See the full festival listings for when and where to see them.

The twins will be playing three live shows in Portland, Northampton and San Francisco and tickets are on sale NOW!

Also announced were the finalists for the APRA Best Country Song for 2010 and Jools Topp is a finalist for ‘Honk Tonk Angel’ along with Dianne Swann (The Bads) for ‘So Alive’ and  Matt Langley for ‘7:13’.

The awards will be presented on June 4 2010 at the New Zealand Country Music Awards in Gore.

Read more about the finalists here.

Performing with a full orchestra was a challenge for a couple of gals who don’t read music or know what a bar is, but everyone had a lot of fun. The show could be called The 3 Kenors as the conductor was called Ken too!

The online video is only available to NZ viewers but the show will be available as an extended version DVD in the near future so keep an eye out.

Read the article written by Steve Rothaus on the Miami Herald blog.

Leanne Pooley having her photo taken by Tim Klein at the River Run Film Festival | Credit: River Run Film Festival

Leanne Pooley on the red carpet at the River Run Film Festival | Credit: River Run Film Festival

Leanne Pooley with Andrew Rodgers, the Executive Director of the River Run Film Festival | Credit: River Run Film Festival

The happy audience at the River Run Film Festival screening with Leanne | Credit: Leanne Pooley

Reviews from River Run Film Festival:

River Run Film Reviews, Winston-Salem Journal
Film Festival Offers Awesome and Awful, Matthew Lucas – The Dispatch.com