| Overview: | Set in the mid-sixties of Singapore, BUGIS STREET is an off-beat period drama about a young woman's coming of age among a community of drag queens who work in the famous tourist/red light district--Bugis Street.
The central character, LIEN (played by Hiep Thi Le), is a wide-eyed 16-year-old girl who has just moved from a rural village to Singapore where she works as a maid in Sing Sing hotel. Little does she know, the hotel is the infamous residence for transsexuals and transvestites who work on Bugis Street.
Lien befriends the colorful characters around her and slowly overcomes her initial shock and intimidation. As the daily melodrama of these "outcasts" unfolds, Lien learns about the secrets and pains of love, sexuality and womanhood from these "fake" women.
Campy, kitchy, and erotic, BUGIS STREET is a beautifully shot movie about a young woman growing up among the odds, coming to terms with both the lighter and darker sides of life, the duality of human character. BUGIS STREET's sensibility marks the intersection where John Waters meets art house cinema in Hong Kong.
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