AV
AV (Chinese: 青春夢工場, also rendered 青春梦工厂) is a 2005 Hong Kong comedy-drama directed by Pang Ho-Cheung about four university students who pool money and take out a loan to hire a Japanese adult video actress for a fake film shoot, so that they can sleep with her1 • 2. Its Hong Kong theatrical release is dated March 19, 2005 on IMDb1, with Box Office Mojo listing an earliest release of March 17, 2005 in Hong Kong3.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writers | Directed by Pang Ho-Cheung; written by Hiroshi Fukazawa, Pang Ho-Cheung, and Wenders Li1 |
| Production | Making Film and Mei Ah Films Production Co. Ltd.1 |
| Runtime / format | 103 minutes, color, Dolby Digital, 1.85:1 aspect ratio1 |
| Languages | Cantonese, English, and Japanese1 |
| Box office | $561,997 worldwide, all of it from Hong Kong3 |
| Audience rating | 6.7/10 on IMDb from 817 votes1 |
| Australian classification | MA 15+, consumer advice "Sexual references", classified 27 April 2005 at 104 minutes4 |
Spoilers
Plot
Four friends are weeks from graduating from university, uncertain about their futures and unwilling to enter the adulthood of work, family, and responsibilities5. Their classmate Lok is notorious for hitting on girls by claiming to be a filmmaker and is expelled right before graduation, and the four friends copy the idea and take it further5. They concoct a plan to hire a Japanese AV (adult video) actress to "act" in their fake film, with the real aim of having sex with her5.
Funding is the obstacle. According to the LoveHKFilm review, they need about 2.5 million yen to hire their chosen star, played by Manami Amamiya, who is a real AV actress; the group assembles what it can, then obtains a sizable chunk through an entrepreneur loan given to young people with a dream, pitching classmates that money buys proximity to a genuine AV girl2. MUBI's synopsis describes the four students applying for a government subsidy to make their own "AV" movie6.
Cast and crew
The film stars Wong You-Nam (Chan Ho-Ming), Lawrence Chou (Leung Chi-On), and Derek Tsang (Ho Bo-Wah, credited as Kwok Cheung Tsang)1. Chun-Fai Chow plays Mai Kai-Kwong, Manami Amamiya appears as herself, and Tien You Chui plays Wong Kar-Lok1. Supporting roles include Yan Ng as Cally, Monie Tung as Belinda, Yoyo Chen as Chi, Eric Kot as a loan officer, Chin Ka-Lok as action director, Shiu-Hung Hui as a film professor, and Chung King-Fai as a company boss1.
Behind the camera, Wong Ngai-Lun and Janet Yung composed the music, Charlie Lam was the cinematographer, and Wenders Li was the editor5.
Themes and reception
Underneath the sexual premise, the film draws a parallel between its protagonists and the student activists of the 1970s: the students tell classmates that their own campus produced socially conscious young people thirty years earlier who accomplished something lasting, and that hiring an AV girl together is the 2005 version of that movement2. The film returns to this parallel three times, including an ending coda that hints at significance2. IMDb lists a connection to the 1979 film Stalker1.
The Hong Kong film website LoveHKFilm called it "clever stuff from an astoundingly clever filmmaker" while faulting its meaning as superficial, and noted that it was conceived and shot in a short span of time2. A reviewer for Heroic Cinema found the film conservative in its use of nudity and sex, neither excessive nor exploitative, and described it as a look at gender relations from the male perspective that plays expectations against reality7. A Sina Entertainment retrospective placed AV, together with its alternative title Ching Chun Mong Gung Chong (青春梦工场), in the wave of Hong Kong youth films from 2005 that used its story of young people pooling money to invite a Japanese AV actress to depict the confusion and restlessness of their generation, a change the writer dated from 2005 onward8.
Release and distribution
Beyond its Hong Kong opening, the film screened at the Udine Far East Film Festival in Italy in April 2005, the Tokyo International Film Festival in October 2005, and the Deauville Asian Film Festival in France on March 9, 2006, with an Australian TV premiere on September 29, 20069. In Mandarin-speaking markets it circulated as 青春梦工厂, and in Russia as «Видео для взрослых»9.
The Australian Classification Board classified the film MA 15+ for sexual references on April 27, 2005, listing the duration as 104 minutes, director Pang Ho Cheung, production company Mei Ah, and country of origin China (Hong Kong)4.
References
- AV (2005), IMDb
- AV (2005) review by Kozo, LoveHKFilm
- AV (2005), Box Office Mojo
- AV, Australian Classification
- AV, Full Cast & Crew, TV Guide
- AV (2005), MUBI
- Review: AV (2005), Heroic Cinema
- 香港票房综述：漫谈香港近年来青春片, Sina Entertainment (2008)
- AV (2005), Release info, IMDb
Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2005 to 2006
Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026
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