Coming out: Film places ‘ladyboys’ at the fore

[geovalin]

Audrey Wilson and Vandy Muong

Filmmaker Sok Visal’s new feature flips the script on traditional portrayals of LGBT characters in Cambodian cinema. Not because of some rights agenda, he says, but just to tell a human – and entertaining – story.

When actress and entertainer Poppy – born Leang Sothea – found herself in rural Kampong Chhnang last October on the set of her latest film, Poppy Goes to Hollywood, the villagers already knew her as “Miss Poppy”.

She has arguably been the most recognisable transgender woman in the Kingdom since 2001, when she was crowned the winner of Cambodia’s first Thai-style “ladyboy” beauty contest. This time around, she is not the only trans woman on screen. Among her co-stars are two other transgender women; two men who dress as women; and one man who must cross-dress for the sake of the film’s plot, which involves a gang of ladyboy performers on the run.

Read this long and interesting article here: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/coming-out-film-places-ladyboys-fore