Nine Years of a High-Heels Dancer: 'My Silly Flirty Boys' Tracks Fame and Aging

Taiwanese influencer Fufu, famous for dancing in high heels, is shutting down his channel this year — and the nine-year documentary he anchors, "My Silly Flirty Boys," is at the Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) in Taipei looking for money to finish post-production.

Hong Kong filmmaker Frankie Sin, now based in Taiwan, trained his camera on Fufu from 2017 to 2026. Over that stretch, Fufu built a following through racy dance routines, high-heeled performances and his online channel "FJ234," where he spoke openly about desire. He also helped bring drag queens and other LGBTQ+ performers to mainstream audiences.

Not everyone welcomed it. Critics who wanted gay men presented in a more respectable light branded him a "cancer of the gay community."

What does the film actually cover?

Away from the spotlight, Fufu talks frankly about what fame has cost him and about the loneliness that sets in once the persona comes off. Now nearing 40, he is coming to terms with a face and body that are getting older.

The shoot spans the years around Taiwan's legalization of same-sex marriage. It charts how queer entertainment grew — and was then swallowed up by the mainstream market.

Sin's own story runs parallel to his subject's. More than 10 years ago he left one of Hong Kong's conservative outlying islands for Taiwan, hoping its reputation for openness would give him a place to belong. Instead he found a local gay scene that prized hyper-masculinity and a "model gay" image.

"This triggered a second wave of anxiety about my body and identity," Sin says. "In 2016, I met Fufu, an influencer famous for dancing in high heels. His bold, confident display of desire stood in sharp contrast to my own insecurities and repression. He became a mirror for me."

Why a midlife crisis sits at the core

Both men turn 40 during the course of the film, and the director frames their parallel passages as the documentary's emotional spine.

"As two gay men approaching 40 – one losing his spotlight, the other confronting his deepest insecurities – we both face a midlife crisis, learning how to make peace with aging, loneliness, and ourselves," Sin says.

The project started from Sin's own discomfort, not from Fufu's fame. "It began with my own anxiety over my queer identity and feeling out of place within the community's mainstream standards, which led me to point my camera at a maverick who dared to challenge sexual taboos," he says.

So what does this change for audiences? The producers argue the film offers a view of Taiwan's gay male community rarely shown on screen — its pecking order and its shared anxieties, not just its pride.

"By placing the personal changes of both men alongside the rise and fall of Taiwan's queer entertainment industry, the film offers a rare, honest perspective with strong potential for cross-cultural resonance," the producers say.

Who is making it, and what happens next?

The production credits:

• Director: Frankie Sin
• Executive producers: Stefano Centini and Chuti Chang
• Producers: Henry Leong and Peter Yam

Nearly all the key footage is shot, and the team is logging nine years of material ahead of a rough cut. Color grading, the sound mix, an original score and music clearances will follow, with picture lock targeted for the third quarter of 2027.

In Taipei, the team is looking for gap financing to complete post-production. It also wants to meet foreign co-producers and sales agents, plus festival programmers, to help plan a worldwide release.

Sin isn't waiting on this film to plan his next moves. He is developing two more feature documentaries about belonging and family: "An Island Boy," following a young Hong Kong fisherman, and "Nomads of the Island," which explores his own family history.

The Taiwan Creative Content Fest, organized by the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA), runs Nov. 6–9 at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center.