How far would you go for the ultimate sexual experience? What risk would be too great, what pursuit too unholy? In the comic adventure APHRODISIAC director Madeline Schwartzman takes a wry and irreverent glance at some New Yorkers who carry their quest for the ultimate turn-on to positively sinful extremes. True story: In 15th century Europe, no fewer than 12 churches claimed to have possession of the foreskin of Jesus Christ. The holy relic was believed to be an aphrodisiac: Henry V hung it above his marriage bed to help produce a son. But in 1983, the last of the 12 churches announced that the foreskin had been stolen. Parishioners suspected an inside job. APHRODISIAC picks up where the truth left off. What if the foreskin, with all its erotic powers, were to arrive in modern New York? In a madcap search for this holiest of grails, Schwartzmans film spins a web of sex and religion, samba and militia movements, fashion runways and deli counters. The Virgin Mary, floating by a Dont Walk sign, is the first to deliver the news: The Antichrist is in town, she says — pausing to take a call on her cell phone — and if he gets his hands on the relic, the Time of Times will come. For Ludmilla Gund, leader of the militia of the Immaculate Conception, this calls for action. For Al and Wendy, the oversexed, undersatisfied lovers at the center of APHRODISIAC, it means another icon that might come between them and true fulfillment — unless Al can get if first. For the NYPD, it means a chance to crack a ring of criminal aphrodisiac traffickers. And for Bob and Sue, two sexy tabloid TV reporters on the case, this could be the story that brings them finally together. All roads lead inevitably, absurdly to a climactic showdown at the Adler bris (circumcision). The erotic heartbeat of The Upper West Side will never be the same. APHRODISIAC is Schwartzmans first feature film.