The following short stories are each award winners from various film festivals. The films were made in Chicago and are meant to capture part of the personality of the city. Each film has high quality production values, and reveals something about people that might live in Chicago or any large city.

The Confession: A successful businessman casually gives his shoe shine man a holiday tip as he leaves the shoe shop, and bumps into an old friend on the sidewalk that he has not seen for years. When he learns of a tragedy in his friend’s life yet sees a zest in his eyes, it’s clear that his life has great meaning, and the businessman questions his own values. During a confession in church, he tells the priest that his greatest value is his 401K. He contemplates what is the meaning of his life.

The Contest Winner: The top salesman in a firm that provides ManPower type services for the Information Technology industry is in love with himself and his success. Thinking of the good time he’ll soon have at a gentleman’s club with his liquid lunch, he tells one of his co- workers that she would look good in a thong. While at the club, he coincidentally meets a businessperson he’s been trying to get an appointment with for months after having arranged for a private showing with a famous porn star. After a comeuppance at the strip club, he seeks some redemption back at the office related to his thong remark. We later learn that he remains lost and into himself. Appearing successful to others may not equate to being remotely close to what you really want to be. At the strip club, what you see is what you get. Back at the office, it’s all a veneer.

Imagine This: Director Duane Edwards takes a turn as lead actor in a film about a good samaritan who wants to return a cat to its owner. He believes the animal accidentally fell to its death from a high rise apartment building. Does the doorman really care? Why is the neighbor in the lobby so nosey? Was the fall an accident? Does anyone care about do-gooders?

Hit & Run: Inspired by a true story, this film is about a self-centered nurse who likes to smoke and sip her whiskey from a small bottle. She accidentally hits a pedestrian and in her fogged thinking, does not stop to offer assistance. Only later does she learn that the man is impaled in her windshield when she goes to her garage to inspect the damage to her car. When she has a chance to make some amends for the hit and run, she compounds the situation when she realizes the man is very much alive and she short circuits her efforts to call 911 because of her fear of the ramifications of not stopping the prior evening.

The film is less of a comment on the woman’s actions but more on what would we do in a situation where we’ve made a serious mistake and have a chance to right it to a degree, but only at a high price. It’s a classic "pay me now or pay me later" moment.