Mystery surrounds the death of a film producer who dropped dead outside a medical centre in Vietnam.

Joseph Lang, who grew up in Sussex, had spent the past four months |teaching English in Ho Chi Minh City, where he was found dead on Monday.

The cause of death is unknown and his Sussex-based family are currently awaiting the results of a post mortem examination.

Tributes have been pouring in from across the film industry for the talented 33-year-old.

Hove-based film director Thomas Clay was one of dozens to pay his respects.

The pair worked together for |16 years and co-wrote and |produced Mr Clay’s controversial 2005 feature The Great Ecstasy |of Robert Carmichael, which starred Danny Dyer and Lesley Manville.

The film, which was set in Newhaven and told the story of three teenagers’ drugfuelled descent into violence, caused an audience walkout at the 2005 Cannes film festival.

Mr Clay, 33, said: “Joe Lang was my closest colleague and very best friend.

“We met at sixth-form college in 1997 and quickly bonded through a shared love of cinema and fierce debates into the early hours on every topic under the sun.

“The last time we spoke, Joe had discussed saving up his funds and moving to Paris in the autumn to set up a continental production company.

“On Sunday we then exchanged e-mails, discussing some script amendments on our latest project, a call he was going to make the next day, business as usual.

“Twelve hours later, and I still find this hard to believe, he was dead.”

Mr Lang moved to Lewes with his family as a young child where he attended the Priory School before moving to Brighton Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College (BHASVIC).

Film critic Agnès Poirier said: “The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael was daring, beautiful and uncompromising.

Every film critic dreams of such a moment: the discovery of raw and pure talent. I was particularly delighted to get [Lang's] second film with Clay, Soi Cowboy, selected at Cannes again, in 2008."

Mr Lang graduated with a first class degree in Politics and Media from London South Bank University and returned to Brighton before moving back to London.

A spokesman for the Foreign Commonwealth Office said: “We can confirm the death of a British national, Joseph Lang, in Ho Chi Minh City.

“We are providing consular assistance to the family at this difficult time.”