GagaOOLala’s Fragrance of the First Flower makes its entry into the European TV streaming market with Spain’s FILMIN; is officially selected for BFI Flare and Outfest Fusion 2022
Having been featured in Series Mania France, Seriencamp Germany and the 34th Tokyo International Film Festival in 2021, Fragrance of the First Flower, the lesbian series by director Angel I-Han Teng and Taiwan’s Portico Media and GagaOOLala, is soon set to make it into European TV streaming households via the Spanish streaming platform, FILMIN. Elsewhere, the original feature also joins the official line-up at this year’s BFI Flare and Outfest Fusion 2022.
Voted by Variety as one of the 13 Best International TV Shows of 2021, a list that features the likes of Netflix’s Squid Game, BBC Studio’s Time and WarnerMedia’s Amongst Men, Fragrance of the First Flower will be made available for streaming in select European territories through FILMIN, the Barcelona based OTT platform, at a later date this year. As Spain’s largest streaming service for independent films with over 15,000 titles and counting, the partnership between FILMIN’ and Portico Media, is set to bring Fragrance of the First Flower to the region starting with FILMIN subscribers across Spain and Portugal first.
Written and directed by openly lesbian director Angel Teng, Fragrance of the First Flower, starring Taiwanese talents ZaiZai Lin (An Innocent Mistake, Penguins at the North Pole) and Lyan Chen (Fabulous Boys, Aim High), centers on the lives of two, long-lost high school lovers who suddenly cross each other’s paths as they go through different phases in their lives. The unexpected encounter thereby reignites the spark and passion they once shared for one another, ultimately leading them to give the love they would have never imagined possible, a second chance.
An original installment in GagaOOLala’s 2021 anthology project ‘Queer Up The Volume’, Fragrance of the First Flower made its world premiere at the prestigious French Series Mania International Festival in August 2021. Hailed as one of Europe’s biggest and most important audiovisual showcases, the series was Taiwan’s first and only title to enter Series Mania’s ‘Short Forms Competitions’ that featured submissions from eight other territories including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Iran, Singapore, and South Korea. Furthermore, Fragrance of the First Flower was the only series to be included in the festival's official selection, making it the first time that a title from Taiwan was selected for the highly coveted category.
Shortly thereafter, the series was picked up for Seriencamp 2021, Germany’s first and largest TV series festival that boasts of an annual attraction of over 6000 visitors from all over the world every year. In Asia, Fragrance of the First Flower was featured in the 34th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) with it being one of the two exclusive series that was selected for the festival’s inaugural TIFF Series section. The other selected title was HBO Asia’s Folklore 2.
This year, the critically acclaimed original lesbian miniseries will be making an appearance at the currently ongoing BFI Flare 2022: London LGBTQIA+ film festival at Southbank, England on Saturday, 26 March and Sunday, 27 March 2022 with director Angel Teng in London to attend the event as the official guest of honor.
Likewise, the series will be showcased in the States later in April through an official screening at the 2022 Outfest Fusion QTBIPOC film festival on Saturday, 9 April 2022 at the Regal LA Live Theater. The series will then be made available for streaming online from 13 to 17 April 2022 thereafter.
Fragrance of the First Flower, GagaOOLala Originals
Fragrance of the First Flower: Synopsis
Yi-Ming (ZaiZai Lin), whose husband works outside of town, lives alone with her son. After years apart, she reconnects with Ting-Ting (Lyan Chen) at a wedding, a girl she was intimate with back in high school. The encounter with Ting-Ting not only sets Yi-Ming free from her oppressive marriage but also reawakens her feelings for Ting-Ting. Now that Taiwan has finally legalized same-sex marriage, will Yi-Ming have the courage to change her life?
Fragrance of the First Flower: https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/2412/fragrance-of-the-first-flower-2021-s01e01