Puberty exists as the transition from childhood to adulthood, where physique, sex characteristics, internal secretion, psychology and thoughts are experiencing considerable changes, personalities and features of oneself are discovered and the world outlook and faith on one’s own are gradually formed. In recent years along with the thriving internet and the birth of aesthetics of the new epoch, many Chinese adolescents have broken the wall of dual gender to explore the unknown selves, selves inside restrained by society, gender, occupation and unrecognized by society from time to time, through the identity transformation into another sex or role to reject the social labelling and fight for equal rights among all genders. The film PUBERTY will cast YIHAO, a 20-year-old youth working as a make-up artist in the daytime and disguising himself as drag queen at night, as well as numberless lonely souls living in such a busy Shanghai. It will give an insight into his fearless lifestyles, the mental journey and creation of YIHAO to become Drag Queen as well as the Millennium Storm of Jacky, the founder of VOGUING SHANGHAI of Ballroom, where he confidently did the cross-dressing disregarding gaze from others and unbridled dancing, so that Ballroom was made a community people showered in mutual support. Besides, there is also the inspiration of “always bravely be yourself” originated from the Drag culture, whose in-depth impact on LGBT was spreaded from African-American civil rights movement to the world. In the end, YIHAO won the contest for his second champion in Best Dressed.
Yuen Hsieh is a filmmaker, visual artist and DJ based in London and Shanghai.
CREDITS
Creative Agency I SHIYA ENTERPRISE
Director I YUEN HSIEH
Producer I Jason
Director of Photography I AxisAO
Super 8 I AxisAO
VHS I YUEN HSIEH
Editor I YUEN HSIEH
VFX I YUEN HSIEH
Cast I Yihao , Jacky
Colorist I Ying Jie Zhang
Still Photography I Chixi
Original Sound track I Siren Studio
Special Thanks I Voguing Shanghai