A twice widowed and retired sexton tries to convince his daughter to turn away from her life of prostitution.

One winter in Vermont, a middle-aged biographer struggles with depression caused by his desire to have an affair. To cope, he goes on long walks, but one day he finds himself in weather much worse than the misery in his mind.

A depressed son and his father living in New York struggle to communicate to one another about the son’s fears for the future and the father’s concerns for his son.

After he is buried alive by a mysterious figure, a hapless artist begins to think the form of intense and scattered fractals, that evoke his artistic background and tenuous relationship with religious iconography.

An American college student teaches English to a German Jewish refugee who is preparing to give a lecture. As World War II begins, the refugee cannot break his writers block and his tutor begins to fear the refugee may die by suicide.

A failed Jewish-American painter embarks on a year-long trip through Italy to write a book on art history. A chance encounter with a Jewish refugee, however, quickly derails his writing, his trip, and his grip on reality.

In 1950s New York, a rabbinical student hires a matchmaker. As he agonizes over his choices, he begins to suspect that his advisor may have an ulterior motive.

When a middle-aged Italian maid works for an American professor, the maid's personal problems and dishonestly interfere with her work and the generosity the professor has given her.

An elderly amateur artist in New York calls an arts organization, asking for a young nude model to be sent to his home for his "sketches."

A disillusioned candy store owner feels burnt out with his current life and begins to project his past mistakes on the actions of a young thieving customer.