SINGAPORE — Singapore film-maker Ken Kwek’s debut feature Unlucky Plaza will be hitting cinemas in the United States from Jan 8, playing in New York City (Jan 8 to 14) and in Los Angeles (Jan 15 to 21).

Playfully named after our island’s famous Orchard Road mall, Unlucky Plaza is a hostage-dramedy about a Filipino single father who commits an accidental act that ultimately spirals into a media circus and social upheaval.

It stars Filipino actor Epy Quizon, alongside Singapore’s veteran actors Adrian Pang, Judee Tan, Shane Mardjuki, Janice Koh, Pam Oei and Mediacorp host and actor Guo Liang. The film was written and directed by Kwek and produced under his label, Kaya Toast Pictures.

Unlucky Plaza world premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and was also the first Singaporean film to open the 2014 Singapore Film Festival.

Kwek told TODAY that Donald Rabinovitch, the executive vice president of Cinemaflix Entertainment, the film’s US distributor, had seen the film when it was screened at the Toronto film festival and liked it. “He got in touch,” he said. “That’s the long and short of it!”

For his part, Rabinovitch said that Unlucky Plaza was “a refreshing, unique, and very well-made film that is also bold in its exploring long-suppressed social schisms in Singapore”, and was already anticipating Kwek’s next film.

The 36-year-old Kwek said his new film is still in its very early stages.

“I have two completed scripts, very different genres, that my producers are helping me develop and raise finance for,” revealed Kwek. “I can’t say much more than that.”

Unlucky Plaza will also be heading to the Philippines for nation-wide release after its American run. It was picked up by Viva Films, one of the largest entertainment and distribution companies in the Philippines.

Unlucky Plaza enjoyed a 15-week run in local cinemas last April and has travelled to various film festivals, including the Warsaw Film Festival, Kolkata International Film Festival, International Film Festival Manhattan (where Quizon picked up the Best Actor award) and the Tehran Jasmine Film Festival (where Kwek won the Best Director prize).