The annual Johns Hopkins Film Festival returns to the Homewood campus for four days this week with 18 screenings in Shriver and Gilman halls.

Organized by the student-run Johns Hopkins Film Society, the nonprofit festival promotes budding independent and student filmmakers. The program includes documentaries, features and short films from the festival circuit as well as limited release local, national and international films. Displayed formats are 8 mm, 16 mm, 35 mm, VHS and DVD. Jason Shahinfar, a senior biology major from Rhode Island, is the festival director, and Adam Lareau, a sophomore computer engineering major from South Carolina, is festival programmer.

The program opens on Thursday night, April 17, with a cameo-packed Martin and Orloff and closes on Sunday, April 20, with a comedy called Terminal USA.

The majority of the films will be shown in Shriver Hall, the largest screening facility in Maryland. The shows are free to Johns Hopkins faculty, staff and students with ID. The cost to the general public is $3 per show, $5 per day or $15 for a festival pass. Saturday's Student Filmmaker Showcase is free to all. For more information, go to www.jhu.edu/~jhufilm/fest or call 410-235-4636.

The following films will be screened; commentary is by festival director Jason Shahinfar.

Martin and Orloff, directed by Larry Blume. "Martin Flam is insane, he tries to kill himself, he decides to go see a psychiatrist. As fate has it, the doctor is more insane than [he is]. An Upright Citizens Brigade movie with tons of star cameos such as David Cross, Janeane Garofalo, Tina Fey, Andy Richter, etc." (8 p.m. Thursday, Shriver Hall)

Coming Apart, directed by Milton Moses Ginsberg. "Rip Torn stars as a psychiatrist on the verge of a nervous breakdown who installs a movie camera in his apartment to record the screwed-up lives of the women who visit him. An overlooked gem from the late '60s." (10 p.m. Thursday, Shriver Hall)

Home Movie, directed by Miso Suchy. "A first-person documentary about the director's journey from Slovakia to America. Made as a gift for his American-born son." (5 p.m. Friday, Shriver Hall)

Death by Animation "Some of the best underground animation. So sit down, shut up and prepare to die!" (6 p.m. Friday, Shriver Hall)

Go-Go Motel, directed by Daniel Bell. "A Baltimore-based, screwed-in-the-head comedy about a seedy strip club with a dark secret. A twisted story from the twisted mind of local filmmaker Dan Bell." Director will be in attendance. (7:30 p.m. Friday, Shriver Hall)

20 Questions, directed by Batt Anderson. "The director joins his 'wandering' uncle on a four-month odyssey across America. Throughout his journey he asks everyone he meets 20 set questions. The result is a unique and insightful look at our country." Director will be in attendance. (9:30 p.m. Friday, Shriver Hall)

Breaking Your Soul. "A big crazy roller coaster ride, this dramatic shorts program cannot be stopped." (1 p.m. Saturday, Shriver Hall)

Student Filmmaker Showcase. All films made by Johns Hopkins students, including a feature-length video by Kris Jansma. (3 p.m. Saturday, 110 Gilman)

Documentaries 'Lite.' Short documentaries about aging, a demolition derby with school buses and a children's book author in Montreal. (3 p.m. Saturday, Shriver Hall)

Sike Trike. "Back by popular demand! Those hilarious in-camera edited films are back. New shorts by the good ol' Sike Trike crew in B'more." (4:30 p.m. Saturday, Shriver Hall)

Force of Friction, directed by Brian Udoff. "A film about the university system and all the corruption that goes with it. Starring Tom West, Brian O'Kelley, Vlad Cadet, Christina Chaplin and many more. Come support your peers." (5 p.m. Saturday, 110 Gilman)

Magical Mushroom Hour. "This miscellaneous shorts program fluctuates from side-splitting humor to crazy transvestites to vegan porn." (5:30 p.m., Saturday, Shriver Hall)

Zero Day, directed by Ben Coccio. "This disturbing documentary follows two high school students as they declare war on their school. The two plan a terrifying assault on their classmates and explain their views [in a video diary] as we lead up to the intense ending. A must-see." Director will be in attendance. (7:30 p.m. Saturday, Shriver Hall)

Audition, directed by Takashi Miike. "A man holds a casting call in order to find himself a new wife. But he has no idea what he has gotten himself into. The ending is one of the most brutal torture scenes ever filmed." (9:30 p.m. Saturday, Shriver Hall)

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter, directed by Lee Demarbre. "This story follows the greatest super hero ever--JC himself. Join in his adventures as he tries to stop a gang of evil lesbian vampires." (11:30 p.m. Saturday, Shriver Hall)

Two films: Children of Ibdaa, directed by S. Smith Patrick, "a short documentary about a Palestinian children's dance troupe," and When I was 14: A Survivor Remembers, directed by Marlene Booth, "a short documentary about a Holocaust survivor telling her story in the early '80s." (3 p.m. Sunday, 110 Gilman)

Tooth Decay. "An experimental shorts program of bizarre and unique films that push the boundaries of narrative and break the rules of storytelling." (5 p.m. Sunday, 110 Gilman)

Death by Animation. "Some of the best underground animation." (6:30 p.m. Sunday, 110 Gilman)

Terminal USA, directed by Jon Moritsugu. "A psychotronic masterpiece about a not so ordinary Asian-American family. Story involves drug deals, skin-heads, sex videos and the end of the world. One of the funniest films ever made." (8 p.m. Sunday, 110 Gilman)

For more about the film festival, go to www.jhu.edu/~jhufilm/fest or write to jhff@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu.