JHU Film Festival offers indie film experience

The Johns Hopkins Film Festival makes its triumphant return for its fifth season tonight, featuring over 30 films in just four days.

Seeking to promote works by budding independent and student filmmakers, the Johns Hopkins Film Festival brings documentaries, features and short films that have been hitting the festival circuits to the Homewood campus. The organizers also display local, national and international films.

Festival Director Jason Shahinfar and Festival Programmer Adam Lareau anticipate a large turnout for this fifth annual event. The first season alone drew over 2200 visitors and was dubbed the Best Film Event by Baltimore Magazine.

The Festival kicks off tonight in Shriver Hall at 8 p.m. with a screening of Martin and Orloff, directed by Larry Blume. An Upright Citizens Brigade movie, this film chronicles the adventures of Martin Flam, an insane, suicidal man who seeks help from a psychiatrist who turns out to be more unstable than Martin. Look for plenty of star cameos, including David Cross, Janeane Garofalo, Tina Fey and Andy Richter.

Immediately following, at 10 p.m., will be Milton Moses Ginsberg's Coming Apart. Keeping to a similar theme, this film stars Rip Torn as a psychiatrist on the verge of a nervous breakdown who installs a movie camera into his apartment to record the screwed-up lives of the women who visit him.

Friday's festivities begin at 5 p.m. with Home Movie, directed by Miso Suchy. Made as a gift for Suchy's American-born son, Home Movie is a first-person documentary about the director's journey from Slovakia to America.

At 6 p.m., prepare yourselves for "Death by Animation," a collection of some of the best underground animation of the year. The animation shows have typically been among the best-received in past years.

Next up, at 7:30 p.m., will be Go-Go Motel, a Baltimore-based, "screwed-in-the-head" comedy about a seedy strip club with a dark secret. This twisted story comes from the twisted mind of local filmmaker Daniel Bell, who will be in attendance at the screening.

Finally, Batt Anderson's 20 Questions will show at 9:30 p.m., with the director at the screening. In this movie, Anderson joins his uncle on a four-month odyssey across America. Throughout his journey, he asks everyone he meets a set of 20 questions. The result is a unique and insightful look at our country.

All of Friday's films will be in Shriver Auditorium.

Saturday, April 19, has a packed schedule of events for film lovers. You can begin your day at Shriver Hall at 1 p.m. for Breaking Your Soul. This collection of dramatic shorts promises to entertain and engage viewers.

There are two events at 3 p.m. Also in Shriver, students can see "Documentaries "Lite,'" a program of three short documentaries. The topics vary from aging to a school bus demolition derby to a story of a children's book author in Montreal. In Gilman 110, there will be a free Student Filmmaker Showcase, featuring a full- length video by senior Kris Jansma.

Also in Gilman 110 is Force of Friction, showing at 5 p.m. This film, directed by Hopkins senior Brian Udoff, exposes the corruption of the university system, examining sex, death, deception and Cex. This film stars students Tom West, Brian O'Kelley, Vlad Cadet and Christina Chaplin.

Back by popular demand is "Sike Trike," showing at 4:30 in Shriver. The Sike Trike crew from Baltimore created new shorts, hilarious in-camera edited films that have left many past visitors in stitches. Immediately afterwards will be the "Magical Mushroom Hour," a miscellaneous shorts program that promises to offer side-splitting humor, crazy transvestites and vegan porn.

At 7:30 p.m. in Shriver, see Zero Day, directed by Ben Coccio. This disturbing documentary follows two high school students, Andre and Cal, as they declare war on their school. Shot as a video diary, the film documents the duo's terrifying plans to assault their classmates and justify their rage. Coccio will be in attendance.

Takashi Miike's Audition will run at 9:30 p.m. in Shriver. In this film, a man holds a casting call in order to find himself a new wife, but he has no idea what he is getting himself into. But be warned -- this film is not for the weak. The ending is one of the most brutal torture scenes ever filmed.

If Audition doesn't scare you away, you can stick around at 11:30 p.m. for Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter, directed by Lee Demarbre. This movie turns the cornerstone of Christianity into a film superhero, as Jesus tries to stop a gang of evil lesbian vampires from taking over the world.

Sunday, April 20 is the last day of the Festival, and all movies that day will be in Gilman 110. First, at 3 p.m., check out two short documentaries. The first, S. Smith Patrick's Children of Ibdaa, follows a Palestinian children's dance troupe. The second, When I Was 14: A Survivor Remembers, directed by Marlene Booth, features a Holocaust survivor's personal rendition of her experiences during World War II.

"Tooth Decay" will show at 5 p.m. This experimental shorts program features bizarre and unique films that push the boundaries of narrative and break the rules of story-telling. And, in case you miss the Friday showing, "Death by Animation" will follow for a second screening at 6:30 p.m.

The final event of the Johns Hopkins Film Festival is at 8 p.m. Director Jon Moritsugu's Terminal USA is a psychotronic masterpiece about a not-so-ordinary Asian-American family. Deigned by the festival organizers as "one of the funniest films ever made," the story includes drug deals, skin heads, sex videos and the end of the world.

The best thing about the festival? All events are free to any students with a Hopkins ID. For visitors outside of Hopkins, movies are $3 individually, $5 for a day-pass and $15 for a festival pass. For more information, check out the festival Web site at http://www.jhu.edu/jhufilm/fest.

Though it's Passover, and my rabbi won't give me a dispensation for drinking beer, there are still a lot of cool events going on around town.

On Thursday night (the second night of Passover, tisk, tisk), there's going to be an Upperclassmen Night at the Red Maple Lounge, sponsored by the Class of 2004. Tickets are $5, and on sale at the Mattin Center, but are presale only.

Also on Thursday night, at the Recher Theater, Bob Dylan's prodigal son returns. That's right, the Wallflowers will be doing a show with Ron Sexsmith. Though the show is going to be a bit pricey ($25), it may be well worth it to impress that special someone who has a Jakob Dylan crush. Check out http://www.rechertheatre.com for more information.

At the Ottobar on Saturday night, their always-fun dance-o-rama from the other side of the pond, the Brit Pop Dance night, returns. Doors open at 9 p.m. for this 18 and over evening. Check out http://www.theottobar.com for more information.

On Sunday night at the Recher Theatre, one of my favorite bands, Yo La Tengo, will be doing a show. Members of the Matador Label, which also hails such groups as Arab Strap and Belle and Sebastian, Yo La Tengo has been performing for nearly 16 years, and is one of the most original, ambient outfits still performing. Though some would classify Yo La Tengo's music as "drone rock," their music seems to envelop the listener like a Proust novel envelops a reader. I definitely give high marks on this one. Check out http://www.rechertheatre.com for more information.