Lac Gioi (Paradise in Heart), a gay-themed movie produced in Vietnam, will premiere in North and South California on June 17 and 24 respectively.
The film was chosen to compete at the 16th Le Festival International de Cinema Asiatique de Tours (FICAT) in France for Asian directors from March 17 to 25. Lac Gioi also premiered on the opening day of Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (FILMART) in 2015 at Art Center in Hong Kong on March 23.
The movie tells a story about a notorious robber and killer named Trung (starring Trung Dung). During his getaway, he comes across a goat farm and falls in love with a doctor named Kim (starring Mai Thu Huyen) who takes care of Hai, a young gay man isolated by his family.
Hai shows affection for Trung, hence a romance triangle. At first, Trung rejects Hai’s love for him but later the heart of the criminal is melted by a feeble and isolated Hai who has a strong desire for being loved.
The movie honors the beauty of love and features the inner feelings of people struggling to determine their true identity. It received good box office sales in Vietnam and gained three Ngoi Sao Xanh (blue star) awards for best film, best actor and most potential actor. Trung Dung won Golden Kite award for best actor in 2015.
Lac Gioi was selected as the movie of the year by the local LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community and a certificate of merit from the HCMC Cinema Association and two other nominations at Mai Vang (Golden Apricot) award for best film and best actress.
Actress Mai Thu Huyen, the film’s producer, and Nguyen Thanh Vu, director of NTV Entertainment, the film’s distributor, are in the U.S. to promote Lac Gioi on television channels and radio stations.