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“From The Bottom of The Vortex” is a 2016 LGBT+ short film about the difficulty of sharing feelings, particularly when they don’t conform with a common idea of “normality”, written and directed by Kozue Nomoto.

From The Bottom of The Vortex is streaming on TodoiF

Kiko (Sayaka Hashimoto) is in love with her best friend Rii (Izumi Okamura). We see her at the opening of the film, observing tenderly her friend asleep and maybe meditating about revealing her feelings to her. However, Rii is the first to admit she has something to confess; she has been seeing someone and they have just moved in a flat together. Kiko, barely manages to look happy for her friend, but when Rii leaves, she breaks down and decides not to see her again. Driven by desperation, she even tries to seduce her sleezy neighbour, aka “the call girl guy”, in an attempt to...

Featuring an approach that is quite similar to Yutaka Ikejima’s pink masterpiece, “The Muse”, Hideyuki Tokigawa invokes nostalgia, drama and a bit of magical realism for a subject that is usually presented under a whole other prism: stripping. The result, however, if somewhat idealized, is excellent.

Dancing in her Dreams is screening at Inland Dimensions

Based on the true story of a rundown strip theater in Hiroshima announcing some years ago that it is closing after decades of shows, only to have the public rush to support, forcing the owner to continue its operation, “Dancing in her Dreams” highlights this local flavor quite intently, particularly since the director, Hideyuki Tokigawa, is also a native. The story focuses on the owner, Shintaro, following him in two different time frames. The first one as a young man shattered by a previous relationship, only to meet a stripper, Sara, fall in love with her,...

Is it possible to make a film that mixes friendship themes in the style of Shunji Iwai with the intrigue and bizarre terror of Takashi Miike? The new director Ryohei Watanabe has proved that yes, you can, but not only with good results, but also with a very limited budget. It is these films that encourage young directors to take the plunge and fulfill their dream of making a film.

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“Shady” tells the story of two friends: Misa and Izumi. They both meet at school and soon become close friends. Misa is a somewhat innocent and peculiar girl, which causes her classmates to make fun of her suffering. Her only friends seem to be a goldfish at the science room in school and her pet budgie bird at home, but it is when she meets Izumi that Misa opens up more to life. Izumi is everything that...