Fortissimo Films has acquired international rights to Vietnamese director Vu Ngoc Dang’s Lost In Paradise (Hot Boy Noi Loan), which will receive its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

Co-written by the director and one of the main actors, Luong Manh Hai, the film was produced by Vietnam’s BHD – Vietnam Media Corporation. It tells the story of a group of young people, living on the fringes of society, who find that life in the big city is not the paradise they hoped it would be.

The deal was brokered by BHD-Vietnam Media Corp principals Ngo Thi Bich Hanh and Nguyen Bao Mai and Fortissimo chairman Michael J. Werner.

The film is set to screen in Toronto’s Discovery Section before a wide, commercial release in Vietnam later this year. The two lead actors, Luong Manh Hai and Ho Vinh Khoa, are set to attend Toronto.

The acquisition marks the first time Fortissimo has picked up a Vietnamese production. The country’s film industry has been growing steadily in recent years, partly due to a burgeoning exhibition sector, and more Vietnamese films have been finding their way to international film festivals.

“Vu Ngoc Dang is one of a new generation of Vietnamese directors that has both commercial sensibilities and a strong artistic vision,” said Werner.

“In Lost In Paradise, thru the use of drama and comedy he depicts the intersection of the daily lives of a gay couple, a mentally disabled man, and a female prostitute and in doing so his film reveals the complexities and absurdities of life, love and relationships in world.”

Vu Ngoc Dang previously directed Long Legged Girls, which was a huge hit in Vietnam in 2004. Lost In Paradise is his third film.

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