Maxi Cohen Shorts Compilation

Independent filmmaker Maxi Cohen has compiled some of her best work on this one-hour treat for the mind and heart. You'll meet the irrepressible youngsters of Junior High School 202 in Ozone Park, Queens in Ozone Stories, a question and answer session with 70 thirteen- year olds whose comments are, by turns, hilarious, touching, sobering, and sad. You'll also take a Soho stroll with the hip improvisational artist Joel Gold, whose definition of outside reality (everything protrudes, it's like "elbows and fenders") is, well, Boney. You'll be privy to the fascinating dreams of four second-graders ("Once I had a nightmare in Connecticut...") in Second Grade Dreams. You'll stop in for a chat with retired vacationers in Cape May: End of the Season. And you'll get a close-up look at Las Vegas: Last Oasis in America, where money rules, and newlyweds prefer slot machines to their spouses. Shot entirely on video, these shorts do not, for the most part, have the glossy look of high production values; but what they lack in glitz, they certainly make up for in immediacy. Inventive, surprising, warm, disturbing, Cohen's work is a potpourri of originality that should add depth and flair to any video collection. Highly recommended. (Separately, these films sell for $150-$200 each--for a limited time only [through August], Ms. Cohen is making this collection available to libraries for $250. Write to: Maxi Cohen, 31 Greene St., New York, NY 10013).