Hot on the heels of recent gay drama, "Eternal Summer", comes another offering from Taiwan.

"Spider Lilies", which opens in cinemas tomorrow, centres on the relationship between a pair of lesbian characters: A web-cam cyber-sex girl named Jade, played by singer Rainie Yang, and a tattooist called Takeko, portrayed by Hong Kong starlet Isabella Leong.

Rated R21 and passed without cuts, the film raised eyebrows here a few weeks ago when its charity premiere was in aid of the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware).

Readers of TODAY had asked if Aware was sending the wrong message and endorsing an alternative lifestyle.

But for lesbian director Zero Chou, there was no doubt about her message.

"One of the aims of my film is to let people see another point of view," the 38-year-old Taiwanese told TODAY when she and Yang were in town for the screening.

So far, "Spider Lilies" seems to have struck a chord with audiences and critics alike. In Taiwan, it grossed more than NT$12 million ($548,000) within two weeks of its release while in Hong Kong, it took home over US$157,000 ($240,800) on its opening weekend.

In addition, the movie picked up the Teddy Award for Best Gay/Lesbian Film at the Berlin Film Festival in February. This is the kind of critical attention which the two leads were looking for to give their careers a boost.

"I don't have any qualms about appearing in this film," declared 23-year-old Yang. Best known as a member of the now-defunct all-girl pop group 4 In Love, she has two solo albums to her name. Fans had initially expressed concern about Yang taking on the role of Jade.

"The cutie-pie image is something given to me, not what I gave myself," the impish star said, adding that her family and friends had given her their full support. This made it easier for her to deal with a smooching scene with co-star Leong.

"I have close girl friends," Yang said. "So, getting close to Isabella wasn't that big a leap. I wasn't embarrassed about kissing her."

Leong, 19, also admitted that she had no problems during the shoot.

"I found it a very interesting experience," she commented in a separate phone interview.

As part of her research, Leong explained she watched movies like "Boys Don't Cry" (1999), which won Hilary Swank her first Oscar.


- TODAY/so