2000 GRAND PRIZE WINNER:

THE JEWEL AND THE SWORD -- George Borelli: Columbus, OH

Masashi and Andy, best friends in college, find themselves on opposite sides of the war after Pearl Harbor. In a deadly sea battle, Masashi inadvertently rescues Andy, then whisks him off to a Japanese mountain hideaway where he meets and falls in love with Yoshi, Masashi's sister. In a daring raid, they rescue Yoshi's parents from an U.S. Internment Camp and reunite them with their family in Japan.Yoshi and Andy marry. Their baby, Hope, symbolizes the power of love rising above the hatred of war.

Contact: George Borelli, email

2nd Place: THE VIKING BOATS -- Murray Spitzer: Bethesda, MD

A true story of the miraculous rescue of the trapped British Expeditionary Force by the famous fleet of small boats off the beaches of Dunkirk in May 1940. But what truth lies in the deadly threat of invasion of a seemingly helpless England by Hitler's secret weapon, a fleet of 10,000 mysterious, hidden "Viking boats."

Contact: Murray Spitzer, email

3rd Place: THE OTHER ME -- Roger Hard: Concord, MA

Years after lightning strikes him as a youth, Air Force officer Brian Heath discovers a carbon copy of himself named Alex, a struggling rock musician who grew up in a mirror family to Brian's, but wants no part in finding a cure to the illness they both share.

Contact: Roger Hard, email

4th Place: A SUMMER AWAY -- Kellie Doyle: Columbus, OH

Six recent college graduates delay entering the workforce during their first summer after graduation and choose to live on a commune run by a couple of old 60’s hippies.  When confronted by a major university bent on logging the forests around the commune farm for profit, the graduates choose to fight, and gain respect for one another through the process.

Contact: Kellie Doyle, email

5th Place: STRINGS -- Brian Tognotti: Oakland, CA

"We both love tennis.  That defies the gay male stereotype."  Thus begins the love affair between Elliott, a hopeless romantic dreading his 30th birthday, and Scott Fontenot, a twentyish professional tennis player bent on being number one.  They fight the homophobia in male sports, a cynical gay community, and the jealous sabotage of Elliott's best friend Antoine to find that the hardest battle lies within.  Ultimately, they must give up everything to remain together: safety, the infatuation of celebrity and the single-minded pursuit of their own perfect fantasies.

Contact: Brian Tognotti, email