Handsome Stewardess, a romantic-comedy featuring a good-looking tomboy lesbian who starts a new life as a flight attendant, premiered in Taipei on Tuesday (15 October). 

It stars award-winningZb$Ep!hgw!vf*ddlLJdWEu^EMSBQ$2pMcArL4-^UR%aSZxm57g actresses Pejia Huang and Xiao Man as a freshly-met Singapore-Taiwan couple.

Man’s character, a butch lesbian bartender @+v4-a(3O4cdKFX(oG_@Aw2D4_Lc3ui^+C8h+l#ah&vzx+*9m5in coastal Taiwan, 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_$+oj25nG#Mj&a)Xf&ricRPAfe0XygIoCz+7Po^KXF%tJzSDyO a flight 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 wearinJDV8Kmz+MQ=NMXmBImL55QjjufFpIy8Zey)Fbov_mRNw3Rrye4g a suit and tie than rather than a skimpy skirt. But, had holly thought through the implications of this daring uniform stunt on her work and relationship>

The touching comedy, a GagaOOLala original, explores the warmtheWH4b)izJVIh2!(-YE-lcR%jYH5_ryV+EX2D7TMSF&Ea4m44Io and passion between the feisty jealous fighter played by Huang and the handsome stewardess played by Man.

It is part of Chou’s series "Project Rainbow in Six Asian Ci9Ap^KUV0W_T6o(H8=vO)E^89nA+I1G^Ih2(X_Q8$lJn24a1Y3bties”, exploring LGBT experience of coming out, questions of identity, family issues, and marriage in the Chinese-speaking world.

 

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 October, the eve of Asia' largest pride parade here in Taipei.

Chou told journalZ8X9a!OoXpWOhLaFjDiCEONnOFSz3KUO^Q7pDaqAihOC6Igc3Zists it was her goal to tell stories to any lonely LGBT people who would like to listen.

Chou also said the two lead actresses complemented each other^QhTE1$HST^g9zDuEK%%(c4_I0-THf$NLX8^Lodm&OQ^Y8f^gy perfectly in their roles. "Every performance was a little improvised, very interactive, fun, fand funny" she said.

Man shared her experience of wearing a male fli7wAD%N4^!!1_!1F(lyg*e(L1Vb#gT*r@KCo_^pam7rwlUoNq96ght 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 ... judBK%IS$vYalY!u7IivcdeZkJ-W7-5YE!Bt1*GxlLcvP6d2nv5pst like many LGBTQ people” she said.

Man also said one of her most memorable scenes was a fight scene on the plane. Her assaulter is played bymRnf!Ko%-RgRE#f&CfrGmENk=(6Krj__*CNVEcm0BJ)+^ZCzu2 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 hi&Rq%8GYMcTc=u6bJn9-ldAxQxXebjtAyjU42)=PySS9E0VC#H^gh heels, eventually this fight scene felt very real and we had a lot of fun".

Chou, who won three Golden Horse Awards in 2004, earlier this year invited into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science. JYWRYScgGvg8cAejLLm-fr1pDnW^uZ6gfJHCdHkk^phxR610UqShe is the first female Taiwanese filmmaker to have the honor.

Chou worked%50#7S7m(q7wyAqNkz9Kxq(fNwqs4&2alA9)A4)d+3fY0W8udz with Huang twice before on the movie Drifting Flowers and the TV film Three Makes A Whole. 

In the film, Huang said her character reflects exactly how she interacts with hercy%TchvaP#0c97Ws^fl-Mlrz^43U$IdW$NHnmLI2H#OUskRxyZ own friends 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 lonCz@52bWxS05!QgZ_NTZUWXxuQU4w81))$oVGy$nRlMk4marvdug at the back. "I have to try something different from my previous characters,” she said.

The 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 waf(PKwHjx8s*fhUgLKj0SIEN(9X%u$@!#l#D0JVWAmKrMlxcsg!s her dream job.

GagaOOLala is the first multi-media streaming platform for LGBTQ community in Asia with more than 1,0mZabceM9fqFEZc!pAwvkxFTw=UC_&%x*^zU&+ep7pLer&k1DCM00 LGBT features, shorts, documentaries, and series from around the world.