Sex: The Annabel Chong Story
{{short description|1999 documentary film}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Sex: The Annabel Chong Story
| image = Sex annabel chong story.jpg
| alt =
| caption = DVD cover
| director = Gough Lewis
| writer = Kelly Morris
| producer = {{plainlist|
- Gough Lewis
- Hugh F. Curry
}}
| starring = Grace Quek
| cinematography = {{plainlist|
- Gough Lewis
- James Michaels
- Kelly Morris
- Tony Morrone
}}
| editing = Kelly Morris
| studio = {{plainlist|
- Coffee House Films
- Greycat Releasing
- Omni International
}}
| distributor = Strand Releasing
| released = {{Film date|1999|1||Sundance|2000|2|11}}
| runtime = 87 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
| gross = $233,076
}}
Sex: The Annabel Chong Story is a 1999 American documentary film directed, filmed and produced by Canada-based producer Gough Lewis, edited by co-creator Kelly Morris, and produced by Peter Carr.
The film profiles pornographic film actor Grace Quek, a.k.a. Annabel Chong, then a gender studies student at the University of Southern California, famous for setting a gang bang record in January 1995. A video of the event was released under the title The World's Biggest Gang Bang.{{cite web |url=http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Movies/9902/10/annabel.chong/ |title=Sex sobers in controversial Sundance documentary |date=February 10, 1999 |work=CNN |access-date=21 November 2016 |archive-date=29 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129191043/http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Movies/9902/10/annabel.chong/ |url-status=live }}
After release, Quek criticised Lewis for misconstruing multiple events and portraying events in a "misleading" way, such as claiming to have 'returned' to the industry after going to Singapore or the fact that producer Lewis self-harmed off-camera.{{Cite web |last=McDougall |first=AJ |date=2020 |title=What Happened to Annabel Chong? |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgqqd8/what-happened-to-annabel-chong |website=www.vice.com |publisher=Vice Media |access-date=2021-03-18 |archive-date=2020-11-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123205549/https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgqqd8/what-happened-to-annabel-chong |url-status=live }}
Synopsis
The documentary explores Quek's experiences, presenting her life as a student in Los Angeles, California and London; her native Singapore; and in the porn industry. It focuses on her reasons for working in porn, and her relationship with friends and family.{{cite web |url=http://www.flickfilosopher.com/flickfilos/archive/001q/sexannabelchong.shtml |title=Sex: The Annabel Chong Story (review) |date=13 February 2000 |website=flickfilosopher.com |access-date=21 November 2016 |archive-date=15 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215003748/http://www.flickfilosopher.com/flickfilos/archive/001q/sexannabelchong.shtml |url-status=live }}
The documentary reveals that Quek was gang raped as a student living in London and describes her many complex emotional issues, including signs of depression, self-harm and substance abuse. The film also includes footage of a painful conversation in Singapore between Annabel and her mother, who, until then, didn't know about her daughter's porn career.
Response
The documentary became a hit when it was released at the Sundance Film Festival, nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.{{cite web|url=http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/sex-annabel-chong-story/|title=Sex: The Annabel Chong Story|publisher=Top Documentary Films|access-date=2014-06-06|archive-date=2014-06-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140607042518/http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/sex-annabel-chong-story/|url-status=live}}
North American distribution was halted or minimized as a result of a court case in the Superior Court of Canada, as instigated by David Whitten, a B-movie distributor.[http://www.moviemaker.com/issues/10/10_distribution.html Moviemaker.com Straight From the Horse's Mouth: How To Avoid Distribution Hell by Keith Bearden] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060324062239/http://www.moviemaker.com/issues/10/10_distribution.html |date=2006-03-24 }}
In The Guardian, Jonathan Romney (2000) wrote, "Quek's refusal to cohere as a subject is contingent on the fact that there's apparently no one looking at her: director Lewis is curiously absent, as either a character or as an invisible shaping intelligence. But he apparently was a character in her story: in interviews, Quek has denounced him for failing to reveal that he was her lover for a year during the making of Sex, something the film never even implies. That omission contributes to making the film incomplete, if not actually dishonest."{{cite news |date=26 April 2000 |first=Jonathan |last=Romney |title=Naked, but not revealed |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2000/apr/26/artsfeatures2 |website=The Guardian |access-date=15 April 2018 |archive-date=13 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240913170927/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2000/apr/26/artsfeatures2 |url-status=live }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0181810|title=Sex: The Annabel Chong Story}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20101225163246/http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/00/11/annabel.html Sense of Cinema article by Dmetri Kakmi]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20040922075358/http://www.asianweek.com/2000_05_04/ae_annabelchong.html Asia Week's Review]
- [http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/04.13.00/sex-0015.html Metro Active's Review]
- {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20011225120952/http://www.geraldpeary.com/reviews/stuv/sex-annabel.html review of Sex: The Annabel Chong Story]}} by Gerald Peary
- [http://www.ruthlessreviews.com/1554/sex/ Ruthless Review]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sex The Annabel Chong Story}}
Category:1999 documentary films
Category:1990s English-language films
Category:American documentary films
Category:American independent films