What's a Hug?

A slum boy's wake and his father's efforts to give him a last moment of dignity.

A coming-of-age story about Jack, a 16-year old Iranian boy growing up in 1989 Los Angeles. With the 1979 Iranian Revolution a distant memory, the AIDS movement as a backdrop, and a haunting score by Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij, Jack learns how to stage his own much smaller revolution within the confines of his traditional family.

A solid middle American couple meet a stranger who will have a big role in history as we know it.

This delightful short is a world away from Tomomatsu's later works. It's a lovely story, told well. The reason that I tracked it down is because I'm quite a fan of Alice Sailor's music. She fronts new wave band Amaryllis and I was curious to see her acting. She has frequently supplied theme songs and other music to several of Tomomatsu's films. Indeed, the most disturbing sequence in this movie is accompanied by a psychotic Amaryllis track, 'Haha', and the closing piece is another Amaryllis song, 'Usagi'. This rip comes from the 'Eat The Schoolgirl' DVD, where it was one of the extras. Having just watched the main feature from that disc, I can say with some certainty that I found this tale far more enjoyable.

A mysterious drifter and his young friend must save a frightened, forgetful old lady from a memory eating ghost.

A young couple's marriage hilariously hits the rocks during a weekend wedding in the country.

Nicolas, a young man in his mid 20s, struggles to decide whether or not to go to the wedding of his best friend from high school, Aaron, who he's always been quietly in love with. The two had a falling out years earlier after Nicolas inexplicably kissed Aaron's girlfriend. Nicolas clings to an idealized image of his former friend, unconsciously sabotaging his own happiness in the process. The film is a realistic slice-of-life that poses the question "How do you get over something you never had?"

While Pierrot, surrounded by his friends, is glued to the TV watching a soccer match, Stella, his shy girlfriend, must give up celebrating her birthday. She had planned everything but had forgotten that it was a sacred evening - the second round of the playoffs.

Jean, 18 years old, is the prodigy heeler of his village rugby club. While his team is defending its title, he falls madly in love with Ayoub, a player from the opposing team. The brotherly relationship he has with his teammates turns out to be more fragile than he thought.

Art Hahn is just one actor numbed by the New York struggle. One day, an unusual proposition from his friend, John Kim, leads him to a remarkable role that jolts his system like never before.

"Memory Revival" pianist Frederick confronts the "Memory Eraser" in a soul-wrenching duet that forces them both to reckon with memories of their childhood they had long-since forgotten.

Professional forger Bill Butters realizes one day that the police are closing in on him, and convinces his daughter Peggy to flee.

Swell is a smartphone app that changes your mood through sound. When a young couple tries to control each other’s settings, they find their relationship threatened by an unintended cacophony of emotions.

David comes home from college to his family’s farm to find that his parents have hired a young man named Brent, who is also sharing his room. David is still in the closet and wants to come out to his high school friend, but he finds himself drawn to his new roommate and tries to determine if he is also gay.