Changi Airport, Maxwell Food Centre and Marina Bay Sands Hotel. Those are the settings where two female characters will fall in love in a new series.
In a first, GagaOOLala — billed as Asia’s first LGBT-focused streaming platform — has set its eyes on Singapore for a rom-com series involving a lesbian storyline.
Directed by the award-winning Zero Chou and as a part of the filmmaker’s “Six Cities Rainbow Project,” Handsome Stewardess chronicles Taiwanese bartender-turned-stewardess Holly (Lilu Wang) who pursues her love interest (Huang Peijia) to Singapore. The pair then start a new life together in the Lion City.
Production took place over five days in Singapore at many of the city-state’s landmarks such as the iconic towers of Marina Bay Sands and Chinatown’s bustling Maxwell Food Centre. Of course, since the lead is a flight attendant, the show includes scenes at Changi Airport.
Sex between two men is still illegal in Singapore, despite talk of repealing the colonial-era law. Though not widely enforced, prosecutions do still happen. Same-sex relationships do not enjoy legal recognition and same-sex couples cannot adopt children. In June, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong commented that the government would keep the law for “some time,” saying that Singapore is “not like San Francisco.”
The show premiered Friday with new installments every Friday on GagaOOLala. The Taiwan-based video streaming service with a focus on LGBT content currently offers service in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam and elsewhere.
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