It's almost two weeks of popcorn, interesting people and even more interesting movies as the San Francisco Independent Film Festival premieres new and offbeat films to the Castro, the Roxie and the Women's Building for its ninth year through Nov. 20. The festival presents over 100 new cutting-edge films and videos over the course of this year's 13-day program at venerable SF independent movie houses the Castro and the Roxie Cinema as well as the Mission's Victoria Theatre and Landmark's California Theatre in Berkeley. The celebration of maverick film kicks off with a Thursday night screening of David Lynch's latest twisted epic, 'Inland Empire.'

A scheduling coup that festival founder Jeff Ross credits to contributing programmer Anita Mongo (the respected former Castro Theater programmer who also lends a hand for the annual Noir City Festival), 'Inland Empire' is director David Lynch’s mesmerizing, hallucinatory visit to uncharted territories in Southern California that displays all of the master's strengths, and yields great rewards to those who are willing to leave their egos at the door and go along for the ride. Filmed over a two-and-half-year period on digital video, 'Inland Empire' touches on the themes of Lynch's past masterpieces 'Eraserhead,' 'Blue Velvet and 'Mulholland Drive' and has been described as simultaneously beautiful, perplexing, terrifying and hilarious.

Other anticipated highlights of Indie Fest include 'Viva' -- a retro homage to the trashy sexploitation cinema of the '60s and '70s by director Anna Biller that evokes the Playboy-era sexual revolution and its symbols with remarkable accuracy; a world premiere of the warped psychological thriller from Canadian director Leah Walker; intriguing music-oriented documentaries 'Darkbeat: An Electro World Voyage,' 'Gypsy Caravan' (shot by legendary filmmaker Albert Maysles), and 'Rock 'N Tokyo;' and 'Fido,' a dark comedy set to screne on the festival's closing night that features Carrie-Anne Moss as a caring mother who buys her loner son a zombie (played by Billy Connolly) for a pet.

Indie Fest also presents an array of short films and animation shorts, either as part of a feature screening or in group screenings based on catagory or theme. The Fest also maintains its reputation for putting on top-notch shindigs with its Fourth Annual Big Lebowski Party (hosted by Balazo in the Mission District on Feb. 16) as well as happenings at Cell Space, Bruno's and the closing night party at 12 Galaxies featuring the Chop Tops, the Copper Tones and more. For a complete list of events and more information, visit the official Web site at www.sfindie.com.