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**
2008 LOS ANGELES FILM FESTIVAL - OFFICIAL SELECTION **
"Heidi Fleiss is kind of synonymous with sex and money and
that's the big deal, but really, I'm just your average convicted
felon," says Fleiss of herself.
Directed and produced by the award-winning team of Fenton Bailey
and Randy Barbato, HEIDI FLEISS: THE WOULD-BE MADAM OF CRYSTAL
paints an unflinching portrait of the erstwhile "Hollywood
Madame" as she embarks on an ill-fated attempt to open the
first legal brothel for female clients in the tiny desert town
of Crystal, Nev. As a convicted felon, Fleiss encounters
opposition from local authorities and a consortium of all-male
brothel owners, as well as the uncloaked ire of Miss Kathy, a
bar owner who envies her purchase of a choice tract of land.
Then,
in an unexpected twist, Fleiss finds herself drawn into the
eccentric world of a former madam who lives next door with a
valuable collection of exotic birds. As Fleiss's architects show
off an elaborate model for her "stud farm," she
becomes consumed by local politics, the psychological impact of
her years in prison, the demands of enduring celebrity and an
unexpected bequest from her neighbor, who leaves Heidi her
exotic bird collection upon her death.
Along
the way, Fleiss offers some revelations about herself. She was a
child chess champion in Los Angeles; she got her entrepreneurial
start running a babysitting service in high school; she has a
weakness for that "white trash drug, crystal meth,"
she's had breast enhancement surgery; and she's never been in
love with another person.
The
film ends with Heidi Fleiss still striving for her dream.
Ultimately, she opens a business that she has no trouble
starting: a laundromat in Pahrump, Nev., called "Dirty
Laundry."
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