EON announced today the acquisition of U.S rights to Ninja Thyberg’sdaring debut feature Pleasure which made its world premiere to critical acclaim at this year’s Sundance Film Festival with critics calling it “astonishingly audacious”, “authentic”, and “undeniably bold.” Pleasure originated as a short of the same name and premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival where it took home the Canal+ Award for best short film. The feature was also an Official Selection of the 2020 Cannes Film Festival. NEON will show the film at this year’s AFI FEST in a special in-person screening Saturday, November 13th and release the film in 2022.
Pleasure takes a look at the Los Angeles porn industry through the lens of newcomer Bella Cherry (Sofia Kappel). Strong, self-confident but naive, Bella believes she can mold the corrupt system to satisfy her needs. But, in the end, she must confront whether she’ll pay with her soul for stardom, or not.
In its examination of the porn industry and the power dynamics of managers and male-dominated sets, Thyberg uses nudity in order to “expose rather than titillate.” With a stunning first time performance by Kappel, as the only actor in the film without any direct connection to the porn industry.
Ninja Thyberg states, “I’m happy and relieved that my debut and life’s work is in the hands of NEON who dare to launch the film with my original vision, raw and uncut, to the American audience.”
