Ken Kwek

---

title: "Ken Kwek" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1979-births", "living-people", "singaporean-film-directors", "singaporean-people-of-teochew-descent", "21st-century-singaporean-dramatists-and-playwrights", "singaporean-screenwriters", "singaporean-journalists", "singaporean-dramatists-and-playwrights", "theatre-in-singapore", "singaporean-documentary-filmmakers", "singaporean-film-producers", "21st-century-singaporean-writers", "singaporean-male-writers", "singaporean-novelists"] description: "Singaporean filmmaker (born 1979)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Kwek" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Singaporean filmmaker (born 1979) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Ken Kwek
image	Ken Kwek on Telling Stories Live.jpg
landscape
alt
caption	Kwek speaks at "Telling Stories Live" in 2015
birth_date
birth_place	Singapore
alma_mater
occupation
partner
children	1
module	{{Infobox Chinese
t	郭智軒
s	郭智轩
p	Guō Zhìxuān
::

| honorific_prefix = | name = Ken Kwek | image = Ken Kwek on Telling Stories Live.jpg | image_upright = | landscape = | alt = | caption = Kwek speaks at "Telling Stories Live" in 2015 | birth_date = | birth_place = Singapore | alma_mater = | occupation = | years_active = | partner = | children = 1 | module = {{Infobox Chinese |child= yes|hide= no |headercolor=lightblue | t = 郭智軒 | s = 郭智轩 | p = Guō Zhìxuān | poj =

Ken Kwek (born 7 May 1979) is a Singaporean screenwriter, director, playwright and author. His short film compendium, Sex.Violence.FamilyValues, was banned by the Singapore and Malaysian governments in 2012. His first feature film Unlucky Plaza premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2014. His second feature #LookAtMe premiered at the New York Asian Film Festival in 2022, to critical acclaim. He has written several full-length plays, including the #MeToo drama, This Is What Happens To Pretty Girls, which premiered in Singapore in 2019. He is also the author of several best-selling children’s books including Kelly and the Krumps, which won the Hedwig Anuar Book Award in 2020.

Career

After graduating from the University of Cambridge in 2003, Kwek worked as a camera assistant on various film productions in the United Kingdom. During this time, he also shot and produced The Ballad of Vicki and Jake, a documentary about a heroin addict struggling to raise her 11-year-old son in the ghettos of Bristol. The film won the Best Newcomer Award at the 2006 Visions Du Reel Film Festival in Switzerland.

In 2008, after a three-year stint as a newspaper journalist, Kwek returned to filmmaking. He penned The Blue Mansion, a satirical comedy of manners. He also co-wrote the crime thriller Kidnapper and the period musical comedy It's a Great, Great World with director Kelvin Tong.

In 2011, Kwek directed a trio of short films, Sex.Violence.FamilyValues. The component films, Cartoons, Porn Masala and The Bouncer, were selected for the Miami International Short Film Festival, Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival, Seoul International Youth Film Festival and Sydney Underground Film Festival, amongst others. Porn Masala won the Audience Choice Award (Short Film) at the Gotham Screen Film Festival and was nominated for Best Comedy at the Super Shorts Film Festival in London.

In 2012, Sex.Violence.FamilyValues was acquired by distributor Cathay, the first Singapore omnibus film to get a major theatrical release in Singapore. However, on 8 October 2012, just three days before the film's slated release, Singapore's Media Development Authority (MDA) revoked the film's M18 rating and banned it, citing public complaints about the film trailers' "racially offensive" content. The ban ignited a debate about censorship in Singapore's Parliament.

Kwek's first feature film, Unlucky Plaza (2014) made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and opened the Singapore International Film Festival in December. In January 2016, the film was withdrawn from Kuala Lumpur's Titian Budaya Festival after Malaysian censors requested eight to ten edits to it, including its sex scenes and language. Unlucky Plaza opened in the United States in the same month, playing in New York City and Los Angeles. The film, which 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), was also released in the Philippines.

In 2020, Kwek directed The Pitch, a short comedy about the trials of three real-life theatre companies, Singapore Repertory Theatre, Wild Rice and Pangdemonium, struggling to survive the COVID-19 pandemic. The film won a Merit Award at the Global Shorts Film Awards. The Pitch was followed up by a full-length stage sequel, The Commission, which premiered at the Singapore International Festival of Arts in 2021. Kwek’s other full-length works for the theatre include the political satire Apocalypse: LIVE!, which premiered at the OCBC Singapore Theatre Festival in 2008, and the critically-acclaimed MeToo drama This Is What Happens To Pretty Girls (2019). In 2018 Kwek started writing fiction, including books for children. His first book, Timothy And The Phubbers, was a national bestseller and his second, Kelly And The Krumps, was awarded the prestigious Hedwig Anuar Book Award.

Kwek was appointed Show Film Director for Singapore's National Day Parade in 2022. That same year, he released #LookAtMe, an LGBTQ themed neo-noir thriller, under his production company, Eko Pictures. The film premiered at the New York Asian Film Festival to critical acclaim and won a Special Jury Mention for Best Performer for its lead actor, Yao.

Personal life

Kwek has one son with Pamela Oei.

Filmography

Feature films

::data[format=table]

Year	Film	Notes	Ref
2005	The Ballad of Vicki and Jake	Documentary film, as producer and writer
2009	The Blue Mansion	As writer	title=Creative Capital: Ken Kwek, the introverted auteur who finds his voice in films and plays
2010	Kidnapper	As writer
2012	Sex.Violence.FamilyValues	Film anthology consisting of Cartoons, Porn Masala and The Bouncer
2011	It's a Great, Great World	As writer
2014	Unlucky Plaza	As director, producer and writer
2022	#LookAtMe	As director, producer and writer
::

Screenplays

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Notes	Ref
2014	Unlucky Plaza
2018	Republic of Food
2019	Trafficker
2020	Reappear
::

Short films

::data[format=table]

Year	Film	Notes	Ref
2011	Cartoons	Collected in Sex.Violence.FamilyValues as part of anthology
2011	Porn Masala	Collected in Sex.Violence.FamilyValues as part of anthology
2012	The Bouncer	Collected in Sex.Violence.FamilyValues as part of anthology
2020	The Pitch
2023	A Closed system
::

Music videos

::data[format=table]

Year	Song title	Notes	Ref
2015	Riot City
2019	You Can't Touch Me Now
::

Theatre

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Notes	Ref
2008	I’ll Have The Special
2008	Apocalypse Live!
2008	Real Actors
2009	The Composer
2019	This Is What Happens To Pretty Girls
2020	The Zoologist	Online Play
2021	The Commission
::

Bibliography

References

References

1. [http://www.svfv.com.sg Sex.Violence.FamilyValues] {{Webarchive. link. (26 November 2012 . Svfv.com.sg.)
2. [http://sg.entertainment.yahoo.com/news/singapore-bans-satirical-local-film-160515391.html Singapore bans satirical local film – Yahoo! Entertainment Singapore] {{Webarchive. link. (28 October 2012 . Sg.entertainment.yahoo.com (10 October 2012).)
3. (12 November 2014). "Singapore film festival opening film Unlucky Plaza is entertaining and has depth, says festival director". The Straits Times.
4. (1 October 2022). "#LookAtMe (2022) External reviews".
5. (July 2019). "In Singapore, a #MeToo Play Sparks Discussion on Sexual Misconduct". The New York Times.
6. Ho, Olivia. (2020-10-10). "Writer-director wins children's book prize".
7. "Archived copy".
8. [http://visionsdureel.ch/en/film-archive/moarch/441.html Film Archive: Visions du Réel – Nyon – 19 au 26 avril 2013] {{Webarchive. link. (16 January 2013 . Visionsdureel.ch.)
9. "/ 5th Gotham Screen Film Festival results".
10. [http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Hackney_Picturehouse/film/Supershorts_Film_Festival_2_Best_Doc_And_Comedy/ SUPERSHORTS FILM FESTIVAL 2: Best Doc and Comedy. Hackney Picturehouse. London] {{Webarchive. link. (13 January 2014 . Picturehouses.co.uk (2 January 2013).)
11. "cinemaonline.sg: "Sex.Violence.FamilyValues" banned".
12. [http://www.mci.gov.sg/content/mci_corp/web/mci/pressroom/categories/parliament_qanda/minister_s_responsetothepqsontheclassificationofthefilmsexviolen.html MCI's response to the PQs on the film ‘Sex.Violence.FamilyValues’] {{Webarchive. link. (1 December 2013 . Mci.gov.sg (4 December 2013).)
13. (2 October 2014). "Ken Kwek's Unlucky Plaza to open the Singapore International Film Festival". Singapore Press Holdings.
14. (4 January 2016). "Malaysian censors take issue with Singapore films". MediaCorp.
15. (31 December 2015). "S'pore film Unlucky Plaza to show in US". MediaCorp.
16. "The Pitch - A Co-Production of Pangdemonium, Singapore Repertory Theatre and WILD RICE".
17. Nurjuwita, Dewi. "Singapore's three biggest theatre companies premiere short film 'The Pitch'".
18. (28 September 2016). "Global shorts award".
19. Chia, Kai Lin. "The Commission".
20. Kolesnikov-Jessop, Sonia. (2008-08-14). "OCBC festival: Taking a closer look at life in Singapore". The New York Times.
21. (2018-06-19). "Bestsellers".
22. "Hedwig Anuar Children's Book Award 2020 To Be Virtual".
23. Ho, Olivia. (2020-10-09). "Film-maker Ken Kwek wins children's book award with funny novel where exam pressure meets hip-hop".
24. (29 June 2022). "NDP 2022 to celebrate all Singaporeans who helped the country weather COVID-19".
25. (11 July 2022). "Ken Kwek's #LookAtMe to premiere at New York Asian Film Festival".
26. (2 August 2022). "'Perhaps Love', 'Chilli Laugh Story' win NYAFF audience awards".
27. (2015-04-14). "How Luck Played its Part in Ken Kwek's Unlucky Plaza".
28. Lui, John. (2014-08-22). "Ken Kwek's new movie Unlucky Plaza looking for distributor".
29. "Story Writing Workshop for Children: Why I Write".
30. "Creative Capital: Ken Kwek, the introverted auteur who finds his voice in films and plays".
31. "Kelvin Tong Looks Back at 20 Years of Directing Movies: From 'Eating Air' to 'The Maid' To 'Republic of Food'".
32. "Creative Capital: Ken Kwek, the introverted auteur who finds his voice in films and plays".
33. Staff, C. M. G.. (2020-08-12). "Toronto Motorcycle Film Festival announces 2020 lineup".
34. "Ghost in the machine: Singapore films in 2012".
35. Lim, Ry-anne. (2018-04-09). "Pam Oei writes song about late friend Emma Yong for band's new album".
36. "Actress Pam Oei and her band play tennis to smash bigotry in new music video".
37. "Short+Sweet is very proud to be the first to stage a play by Ken Kwek".
38. Kolesnikov-Jessop, Sonia. (2008-08-14). "OCBC festival: Taking a closer look at life in Singapore". The New York Times.
39. "FLYING INKPOT THEATRE REVIEW: Do Not Disturb - Late Checkout, Please by Tan Kheng Hua and Janice Koh".
40. "Blinding Bling! Unbridled Lust! Virgins!".
41. (2019-04-08). "The next original Pangdemonium script".
42. Sor Fern, Ong. (2020-05-27). "Review: The Coronalogues is a brave but flawed experiment in theatre making on a digital platform".
43. (18 March 2021). "Travel the world through the arts".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::