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Eric Khoo’s In The Room to be released with R21 rating on Feb 25

Produced at a budget of US$800,000 (S$1.14 million), the movie strings together six narratives spanning several decades that occur in Room 27 of the fictional Hotel Singapura.

Eric Khoo's In the Room.

Eric Khoo's In the Room.

SINGAPORE — Local filmmaker Eric Khoo’s In The Room is slated for commercial release with a R21 rating in Singapore on Feb 25.

Produced at a budget of US$800,000 (S$1.14 million), the movie strings together six narratives spanning several decades that occur in Room 27 of the fictional Hotel Singapura. Boasting of an international cast — Hong Kong actress Josie Ho, South Korea’s Choi Woo Shik, Malaysian Lawrence Wong, and Singaporean actor George Young — the film seeks to explore topics of love, life, and lust in changing times.

“In The Room is a sensual, poignant film that all Singaporeans deserve to watch. In its tastefully executed erotic scenes, the film unabashedly explores the human condition by showing us how a hotel room, in its promise of privacy, unshackles the amorous feelings and illicit desires hidden within different people,” said Managing Director of Encore Films, Ms Joyce Lee, who will be co-distributing the film in Singapore.

The film first made its rounds in the international festival circuit before hitting home at the 26th Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) late last year.

It was subsequently not given a classification by the Media Development Authority (MDA), which would have disallowed it from being released commercially here.

Responding to The Straits Times on the issue last December, MDA said: “In consultation with the Films Consultative Panel, MDA had deemed two scenes in the movie In The Room to have exceeded our classification guidelines for sexual content.

“MDA informally advised the distributor that the film could be classified R21 with edits for commercial release. However, the application was subsequently withdrawn. As such, MDA has not officially classified the film for commercial release.”

The statement added that the film had been classified R21 uncut for the SGIFF as “more leeway is given to film festivals as they play to a niche audience and have limited screenings”.

The new R21 version of the movie will travel to Hong Kong, Taiwan and other countries after Singapore. Said Khoo in a statement: “I’m very pleased that my new international version that we all love will be screened here intact before it travels to other countries this year.”

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