Josh Waitzkin is just a typical American boy interested in baseball when one day he challenges his father at chess and wins. Showing unusual precocity at the outdoor matches at Washington Square in New York City, he quickly makes friends with a hustler named Vinnie who teaches him speed chess. Josh's parents hire a renowned chess coach, Bruce, who teaches Josh the usefulness of measured planning. Along the way Josh becomes tired of Bruce's system and chess in general and purposely throws a match, leaving the prospects of winning a national championship in serious jeopardy. Written by Rick Gregory rag.apa@email.apa.org

A cop, who is losing his sanity, lures his girlfriend and his former partner into the dangers of arson, robbery, and murder.

It is 1948 in LA and Ezikeal "Easy" Rawlins, an African-American World War II veteran, is looking for work. At his friend's bar, he is introduced to a white man, DeWitt Albright, who is looking for someone to help him find a missing white woman assumed to be hiding somewhere in LA's Black community. This woman, Daphane Monet, happens to be the fiancée of a wealthy "blue blood," Todd Carter, who is currently the favorite in the city's mayoralty race. Daphane Monet is known to frequent the Black jazz clubs in LA. Easy, innocently, accepts Albright's offer; however, he quickly finds himself amidst murder, crooked cops, ruthless politicians, and brutalizing hoodlums. This is a Chandler-esque "who-done-it" with an African-American theme. Written by Joel Schesser joelsd@aol.com

Forty-eight year old Will Keane is a successful restaurateur and serial womanizer, his reputation generally preceding him. When he is introduced to twenty-two year old Charlotte Fielding by Charlotte's grandmother, Will's old friend Dolly who he has not seen in years, there is a mutual but slow to acknowledge attraction. After their first date, Will and Charlotte agree that their relationship will never progress to one of a long term standing, but for different reasons: while this is Will's somewhat standard modus operandi, Charlotte announces that she has a terminal heart condition. Charlotte's admission makes Will look at this relationship differently, he being told by his best friend John that if he is going to continue to date Charlotte that he better treat her well. Their relationship does end up being different than both expect, for Charlotte which could mean a change from her current "let me die in peace" attitude to want to fight for her life. And Will's time with Charlotte is... Written by Huggo

Things aren't going so well for Tommy Basilio. He lost his job because he "borrowed" money from the register, his girlfriend left him for his boss and is now pregnant, and he can't find work because of the incident. His life revolves around the Trees Lounge, a neighborhood bar over which he lives, full of the colorful eccentrics one finds in such places, like the estranged husband, or the old boozer drinking himself to death. He drunkenly wanders through his life, still in love with his ex, desperate for some sort of meaning beyond the bar, some sort of meaning to his life. Written by Gary Dickerson slug@mail.utexas.edu

Nolan Mack is sixty. Married to Joy, a charming and intelligent woman, friend to Winston, a bright literature professor, and well-regarded in the bank where he works, Noland leads a quiet uneventful life. But is he happy, as his superior at the bank once asks him...? One night, as he drives back home, he nearly runs into a gay hooker. Sorry for what might have happened, Nolan starts a conversation with the young man named Leo and ends up in a hotel room. Not for paid sex as Leo expects though. In fact, the polished old man has fallen in love with the raw prostitute. For, having been gay since the age of twelve, Nolan has never been able to express his sexual orientation and Leo happens to crystallize all his feelings and desires. But is a hooker the ideal object of a romantic love? And to what extent will it affect his married life and professional career? Written by Guy Bellinger

Two old pals attend an old friends funeral and find there is more to his death than him being dead.

For the past 5 years, 3 months, and 26 days, (not that theyre counting) Anthony and Carmine Marconi have been dutifully serving out life sentences in the family carpet business. Fate intervenes during a routine carpet installation when the brothers step into the world of Louis Lou Burns, playboy and king of the Long Island wedding video business.

For Billie and Nico, life with their father is a roller-coaster ride of playfulness and unease. When he is in the grip of alcohol, tears flow and their apparently idyllic family life collapses. Their mostly absent and irresponsible mother is not much help either. But their friendship with Malik, a boy of Billie’s age, frees them from their shackles. Together they embark on a journey full of intense moments of freedom. The colourful, emotional world of the three young people is depicted in kaleidoscopic black and white imagery, which opens space for their own notions of childhood. Alexandre Rockwell's tale portrays a profound sense of solidarity and deep love: for cinema and Billie Holiday, and also for risk and adventure.