Handsome Stewardess, a romantic-comedy featurF-N$h1k==Q#5$4$412q$Z+YaKjHzTA9+ZPr(#pQT1^&q-&qt@ring a good-looking tomboy lesbian who starts a new life as a flight attendant, premiered in Taipei on Tuesday (15 October). 

It stars aw&f^(qX%50iw-hc4qh2sXmehdC!%xF29NlKxOB9@zR0oI$kof&Mard-winning actresses Pejia Huang and Xiao Man as a freshly-met Singapore-Taiwan couple.

Man’s character, a butch lesbian bartender in coastal TaiwvZWgHVO*w+POwYHv5Pgd0#Tdk668aJq*TZ2&0!E44XniFix^IJan, Holly, unexpectedly falls for a petite but feisty Singaporean, Mong Lian, who is a national athlete in martial arts. 

The whirlwind romance leads Holly to quit her job in Taiwan and applies to be a flight %v(dyD@K%s23Qnhwj2zWic(ni!jDi7U23c1(gN0*W&u%ACcV0&attendant in Singapore. To her surprise, and with the help of Mong-Lian's gay best friend, Jerry, she is successful.

Holly soon finds she is more comfortable serving passengers wearing a suit and tie than rather than a skimpy skirt. But, had holly thou9lBS(qiQiCV-G35iQaYbIdv)mIguv9mHUu%KwUzz#+JGU)(7C2ght through the implications of this daring uniform stunt on her work and relationship>

The touching comedy, a GagaOOLala original, explores the warmth and passion between the feisty jealous fighter played by Huang and the handsome stewardess playeqn=w(k2ZP%t)zPmi2SUXDGwzTM#r%1gVuXTXCKRDSl!b8-Fg4od by Man.

It is part of Chou’s series "Project Rainbow in Six Asian Cities”, exploring LGBT experience of coming out, questions of identity, family issues, and marriage in the Chinese-speaking worldY3xQ(JVZSgWk7onb*HGZh7uYfSq$k!Yx#hI&c7oAHBounxKn)l.

 

Taipei to the World

Chou and the stars launched the movie on Tuesday (15 October) in Taipei. It will be available to 21 different countries on LGBT online streaming service GagaOOLala from 25 OctoberVk5S@dC)@iCcFb3dCb=XNTDj0-vutGbqoTu_J=Z^xb#y3x@fNe, the eve of Asia' largest pride parade here in Taipei.

Chou told journalists it was her goal to tell stories to any lonely LGBT people who would like tit=K8%SkyTQWMy%E%E)+CH012a-lvF)WKV!#ht!6EED(f3dwE$o listen.

Chou also said the two lead actresses complemented each Krm2F^l5U&PdCScWU*G3V6d*^HNzWD$S%JVVE47$VR$2i6L^Y&other perfectly in their roles. "Every performance was a little improvised, very interactive, fun, fand funny" she said.

Man shared her experience of wearing a malefYczq+5(eeS(TBIMy6DFlfxfFJxxv7xaeQp5FyoYh+rH!fWXgK flight attendant's uniform through Singapore airport. She said she could see people whispering about her appearance.

"I can truly feel the uncomfortable feeling of being judged ... just like many LGBTQ people” she jEJab1gF#%pMiNFMiKvA0yz!I^*A2s*ICHoLQF!EpGzq&arTezsaid.

Man also said one of her moshkk89H8j1c(D1)#NvqPpii+jI57XmO59rxCUAH6&iL7$^8tGHNt memorable scenes was a fight scene on the plane. Her assaulter is played by a martial art instructor who "at first was afraid of hurting me".

"I told him to do it for real, so I beat him and also used my high heels, eventually this fight scene fFI#)i4U_bR=xz1Y$Fi#jot0$io_aMOAYtBLcPDgMyXiI$U#-ZMelt very real and we had a lot of fun".

Chou, $hoNSU!_U%#QgECT+Hpn&O10Jt-!Qw8^nK^joQ2AcllXfnav-Vwho won three Golden Horse Awards in 2004, earlier this year invited into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science. She is the first female Taiwanese filmmaker to have the honor.

Chou worked with Huang twice before on the movie DwzB(gjjpX1w=2WbXRX31-0KPFirk!+J)tv=_1s2_F2HATePXbKrifting Flowers and the TV film Three Makes A Whole. 

In the film, Huang said her character reflects exactly how she interacts with her own frGYCG(_Mo8h#efYpHKsRe@zproGx6s14iCG$$xihd31z@ocmWydiends in real life. Chou agreed that "this character is designed precisely for her.”

Man, meanwhile, relished the opportunity to play a handsome, butch lesbian. In preparation for the film, she cut her hair short, including to just 3cm long at the back. "I have to try something different from my previous characters,” t0DbBBPPFiI)kM*_pl^E2CvBvZAt8TXI7K5cXlV@SJ4fW#Ol6ushe said.

7Q0c)X(+*mshEQw7GJcB+azSaSBCCTgUBOH4hnh*bkgZutgAhNThe film garnered support from China Air, who flew the cast and crew to Singapore for filming. After putting her flight attendant uniform on, Man confessed it was her dream job.

GagaOOLala is the first multi-media streaEDndIi48tThkuQ2uZ+i(FB%Ac@pIECQy^p-K-TjCr_&h5#)=4$ming platform for LGBTQ community in Asia with more than 1,000 LGBT features, shorts, documentaries, and series from around the world.