The Lost Boys

Le Paradis

64th TIFF: Greek Premiere

Is it possible to discover freedom within prison walls? Seventeen-year-old Joe is preparing to leave the detention center where he has spent the past few years, but the arrival of William, a new inmate, will reshape his concept of what freedom truly means. Zeno Graton’s electrifying and self-assured debut captures a love of rare strength and sensitivity while also examining prevailing notions of masculinity, sexuality, and power structures through a different lens. With lyricism, beauty, and the power of profound emotional truth, The Lost Boys is born at the intersection of Jean Genet’s Un chant d’amour and the recent The Great Freedom, where deeply societal cinema gains the right to romance, hope, and poetry that can flourish like a flower even in the cracks of the harshest walls.

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Zeno Graton

Script: Zeno Graton

Cinematography: Olivier Boonjing

Editing: Arnaud Batog, Nobue Coste

Sound: Romain Cadilhac, Rym Debbarh-Mounir

Music: Bachar Mar-Khalifé

Actors: Khalil Ben Gharbia, Julien De Saint Jean, Amine Hamidou, Eye Haïdara, Jonathan Couzinié, Matéo Bastien, Samuel Di Napoli

Producers: Joseh Rouschop, Valerie Bournonville, Judith Nora, Priscilla Bertin

Co-producers: Hans Everaert, Bo De Group, Arlette Zylberberg, Philippe Logie, Tanguy Dekeyser

Costumes: Tine Deseure

Production Design: Guillaume Orain Audoreen

Make Up: Sarah Mescoff

Format: DCP

Color: Color

Production Country: Belgium, France

Production Year: 2023

Duration: 85'

Zeno Graton

Zeno Graton, born in Brussels in 1990, graduated from INSAS in photo direction. He wrote and directed several short fiction films that won awards in many international festivals, including Mouettes (2013), and Jay Parmi Les Hommes (2015) broadcasted on ARTE and nominated for the Magritte du Cinéma. He is also a video director for various theater companies in Belgium and France. The Lost Boys, supported by the Cinéfondation, is his first feature film.