Black independent moviemakers are certainly worth the enthusiastic support of anyone who appreciates art. Whether Urban S.L.A.M., Vol. 1 is the best vehicle to earn that support is open to question.

Offered by New York-based Clarendon Entertainment, this anthology of eight live-action shorts made by African-American filmmakers is spotty, at best. Production values throughout are solid, but the shorts are less fortunate when it comes to those pesky things like story, dialogue and acting.

In between the shorts are behind-the-scenes segments that chronicle the making of these films. Such interstitials -- most of which involve pre-shoots for The Engagement Party, the last short included here -- are primarily raw footage that adds little in terms of context.

One interstitial is mildly interesting. In it, moviegoers in New York are surveyed about their thoughts on what constitutes black independent film.

The films included in this Urban S.L.A.M. (Short Live Action Movies) anthology include:

Pretentious but handsomely constructed, this 2002 short seems to merge the Ambrose Bierce short story, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," with a Partnership for a Drug-Free America PSA. Roderick D. Giles, the Clarendon Entertainment CEO who directs several of the shorts in this collection, deserves credit for crafting a slick, if emotionally hollow, film.

In his acting debut, supermodel Tyson Beckford portrays an inner-city drug dealer who is bound to a chair and being interrogated/tortured by a relentless accuser. Through flashbacks, we get an inkling of what has led him to this sorry fate.

Don't do drugs. Don't sell 'em, either.

This curious little film from 2004 follows a street preacher (Kevin Jiggetts) who tries saving souls of patrons to a Baltimore strip club. His special mission, we soon learn, is to save Marcy, (Jam Donaldson), an attractive young woman who works at the club.

Director Alexander Pikas has crafted a quirky picture, but it spreads on the didacticism a bit thick. And the soundtrack's use of Jimi Hendrix's "Machine Gun" is more distracting than effective.

This ambitious 2004 short takes place in the shadow of the 1921 Tulsa race riot. On the night of May 31, 1921, hundreds of African Americans in the Greenwood section of Tulsa, Oklahoma, were injured by whites who rampaged after a young black man had been accused of assaulting a white woman. Most historians say the deadly riots was spurred in part by a pro-lynching headline in the long-defunct Tulsa Tribune newspaper.

In this low-key film directed by Jan Johnson, an affluent black physician (Lou Ferguson) and his wife (Carmen De Lavallade) hole up in their comfortable Tulsa home while crowds of violent whites gather outside. Affecting at times, Stone Mansion takes an admirable stab at some complicated issues, chiefly the collision between principles and survival instincts, but ultimately the film is hobbled by on-the-nose dialogue and a clunky performance by De Lavallade.

Roderick Giles' 2004 short movie is a bit of nonsense, but its relatively high concept makes has an undeniably visceral appeal. At a gymnasium, a drug dealer (Duane Ferguson) offers $5,000 to a young man (Joanes Prosper) if he can sink five baskets while dodging five shots fired by a blindfolded gunman.

Does the kid beat the odds? Hey, I'm not gonna spoil the ending. Shootout is ridiculous, but reasonably watchable.

Easily the most forgettable of the works here, All You Can Eat concerns two panhandlers who try to mooch food from a man who is sitting on a bench, eating chicken and rice from a plastic container. When the homeless men ask for food, the man on the bench hands them the Bible. Complete with a groan-inducing "twist" ending, this Tishin Padilla-directed short from 2004 comes off as standard student-film fare.

Along with The Engagement Party, this 2005 short is culled from an anthology of short stories, "The G-Spot Chronicles." The Marriage Counselor follows a good-looking single woman (Nichole Robinson) and the lonely, depressing life she leads for sleeping with married men.

Call me stupid (you wouldn't be the first, I have to admit), but I wasn't sure what the point was in this muted tale. Nzingha Stewart's direction tends to meander without much focus -- not a particularly winning combination for a short film.

The most entertaining film in this anthology, 2002's The Date wrings a few genuine laughs from a sitcom-friendly misunderstanding. A straitlaced man (Wendell Pierce) sits in an elegant restaurant, eager to meet his blind date from a Christian dating service, while a man at another table (Garfield) is awaiting the arrival of a hooker from an escort service. Bet you can't guess which woman ends up at which table. It's an obvious setup, but, hey, it's at least dependable for a chuckle or two -- and director Roderick Giles thankfully eschews the pretentiousness that drags down the majority of these Clarendon-produced shorts.

Another one directed by Giles, this wannabe erotica from 2005 is a slickly produced short without much else to recommend it. A handsome investments trader (Will Blagrove) plans to propose to his live-in girlfriend, only to discover, much to his shock, that she is a hot-to-trot slut. Disgusted and disappointed, he then has a ménage a trois with girlfriend Cassandra and her sexy pal (Tasha Perri). Despite some nudity, this barely registers on the steamy scale.

Despite the sophomoric content of these shorts, their picture quality is excellent throughout - clear, vivid and surprisingly detailed. The interstitial segments are a different matter, amateurishly shot and hampered by video noise. The aspect ratios of the films vary, ranging from nonanamorphic widescreen 1.85:1 and 2.35:1 to full-frame 1.33:1.

The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio is perfunctory. Most of these shorts are dialogue-driven, so no bells and whistles are necessary.

The DVD's extras are of dubious value. Clocking in at 19 minutes and 40 seconds, The Making of The Engagement Party: An Interview with Roderick Giles is longer than the short itself. It's also a bit of a bummer to see the considerable amount of pre-production and rehearsal that went into what was ultimately a mediocre film. The featurette also includes interviews with several cast members.

Screening Room B: The Engagement Party Previews is nearly three minutes of an interviewer posing inane questions to the cast members.

Wanting more interviews? There are nearly 16 minutes of additional interviews with the cast of The Engagement Party.

Casting sessions for The Date run for nearly two minutes, 30 seconds. It is marred by poor video and audio quality.

Other bonus features include a two-minute photo slide show, a 40-second alternate ending for The Box Preacher and coming attractions from Clarendon Entertainment.

No slam dunk here. Urban S.L.A.M., Vol. 1 is a good idea without the material to match.