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-winning actresses Pejia Huang and Xiao Man as a freshly-met Singapore-TCDS8pOczJKnzzpjuOR1fyeEbK_mIiPdAKFJVgApA_l$3ZvQr-kaiwan couple.

Man’s character, a butch lesbian bartender in coastal Taiwan, Holly, unexpectedly falls for a petite but feisty Singaporee@kd*cTi1N%9)RV9&DBnwJmNGr&DQPcZeZTS_ZkmpN-ycZk*JYan, 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 attendant in Singapore. To her surprise, and with the help of Mong-Lian's gay best friendS4$fF+izwlxRxo6xaUBBeVaz(a3!GQv!@YLTQQy2IYjrk(u(%5, 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 thought through the implications of this daring uniform stunt on her work and relationship&g^M3$Vz03(^x$zF=o0uR3GQrgnyW%=*GpvEz%Sbirz7xR@g()D#t;

The touching comedy, a GagaOOLala original, explores the warmth and passion between the feisty jealous figh6B1*Qf0t1hn3iQUV*TUlTywDKu&2e78!-OWA1K@6^kO5uQkw@Nter played by Huang and the handsome stewardess played by Man.

It is part of Chou’s series "Project Rainbow in Six Asian Cities”, exploring LGBT experience of comingj4!z3CQek3gE7!bUYxp#QDJK0DNGF_uVy(!7Atux_)dn1n2_&Q 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 journalists it was her goal to tell stories to any lonely LGSt3U4c2K^Q=)#-=1$n*5=bd$wSRQVJ&gXvDaSW00_wL(vxq509BT people who would like to listen.

Chou also said the two lead actresses complemented each otX3ppIcLM2C^EV51Tlo$sm%On^cZ=^@8lPJOxhGu0v$+PE(&QbGher perfectly in their roles. "Every performance was a little improvised, very interactive, fun, fand funny" she said.

Ma-EZkER@$N^_N-!(8I=WQg$ZGp&JKXI$+4RgM2!yw3QY2NA8Cy@n shared her experience of wearing a male 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 beinEQ=y5!n#FFbFhredG&Fi)CJ9Ei*F&Gs=V-2R9_!-IU)4Ss-dI)g judged ... just like many LGBTQ people” she said.

Man also said one of her most memorable scenes was a fight scene on the plane. He^7+j)bjW0CgHFyONIJxSZo7SG3uxMq)w6mGrSL$qstB689eQ&Pr 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 felt very real ajZWNaXDp=e)nLohdJXZ3+kyk4It7tK-V5Mkv7DFp2XGLDlC0d#nd we had a lot of fun".

Chou, who won three Golden Horse Awards in 2004, earlier this year invited intoo_kc0PmclQ@gWoxmWyh!g2Lj+l=$V)aX)3)@lW6&u8dX3_UNPw the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science. She is the first female Taiwanese filmmaker to have the honor.

Chou 6^6UC%+7@f9&xjmziuTj5%ot_OzMl)G&!*KU#5829rkMSIf166worked with Huang twice before on the movie Drifting Flowers and the TV film Three Makes A Whole. 

In the film, Huang said her character refSp(+%XzNZ+ubgV1#23wd9+U)t8H8mJpv8_Cs0f+-^ZY_8=(WD%lects exactly how she interacts with her 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 long at the back. "I have to try something different from my previous chS-BMhTjw=RJ6ed=qjIgovh2h)^rYV9sIkhPiFIgk&y^*SESj3Paracters,” she said.

The film garnered support from China Air, who flew the cast and crew to Singapore for filming. After putting her flight atten4LW*vKXUOh&OBJ7i60%IE&yjhJsH_jrSX31GKS0#MmSpc5-!@4dant uniform on, Man confessed it was her dream job.

GagaOOLala is the first multi-media strvk4AU)smw&kc^bvc$R@FQVIic@PcsAYr4slqBZBt5U1huw$4hgeaming platform for LGBTQ community in Asia with more than 1,000 LGBT features, shorts, documentaries, and series from around the world.