[Press Release] Pleasure Factory

After premiering in Cannes, Montreal, Oslo and Pusan, Pleasure Factory is coming home. The film will be released by InnoForm Media and Shaw Organisation in local cinemas on 25th October 2001 with an R21 rating.

“I’m happy to learn that Pleasure Factory has been passed by the local censors. Not too long ago, this would have been unimaginable”, says Ekachai Uekrongtham, the film’s director, producer and screenwriter. He has personally supervised the editing of the film for the release in Singapore.

Adds Uekrongtham, “Some people might think that Geylang represents the dark side of Singapore. But to me, the place and the people there illuminate.” Inspired by true stories and shot on actual locations, Pleasure Factory tells an intriguing and intimate tale involving pleasure seekers and pleasure providers in Geylang. In the course of one night, an army boy loses his virginity; a teenage girl gets inducted into the pleasure manufacturing process; and a jaded prostitute pays a young busker good money for a song he never gets to sing.

Starring Thailand’s heartthrob Ananda Everingham (Shutter, Me & Myself) and Golden Horse Best Actress Yang Kuei-Mei (Eat Drink Man Woman), Pleasure Factory also features exciting local newcomers including Loo Zihan, Isabella Chen, Jeszlene Zhou and Ian Francis Low. The film’s Director of Photography and Editor is Brian Gothong Tan, one of Singapore’s most celebrated multimedia artists.

Pleasure Factory was an Official Selection in the Un Certain Regard at this year’s 60th Anniversary Cannes International Festival. After which, it has been invited to a number of film festivals around the world including Montreal World Film Festival, Stockholm International Film Festival, Oslo Films from the South Festival and Pusan International Film Festival. The film has also been picked up for distribution in the U.S. and major European countries.

Says Sim Wee Boon, Acquisition Director of InnoForm Media: “We are very excited to be able to share this very unique film with Singaporeans. Ekachai and his team has created something very special which we feel will strike a chord with all of us here.”

Pleasure Factory is co-produced by Spicy Apple Films, Fortissimo Films and InnoForm Media. For more information on the film, please refer to the attached Production Notes or visit the Official Movie Site.