When Kaitlin Saunders isn’t working on her film, “Caroline,” she’s thinking about working on it.

It’s that quality that makes her precisely the sort of person for which the Salem Film Festival was conceived. The festival features 10 days of innovative and independent films, April 17-26. Films to be shown will span genres from drama to comedy, documentary to animation, shorts to feature-length presentations.

In addition to the films themselves, festival highlights this year include visits by director Jeff Lipsky, Oscar-winning cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond and Salem's own Oscar winner Megan Mylan, who took home the Academy Award for best documentary short subject earlier this year.

"The level of diversity and artistry represented in this year’s film selections and visiting filmmakers is nothing short of exceptional," said Lorretta Miles, owner of Salem Cinema and coordinator of the film festival.

Some local musicians will be getting a unique opportunity to work with a claymation legend. Animator Bruce Bickford has invited a group of local musicians to create an original soundtrack to his silent film, "Cas’l'." The group will perform its score for the audience while the film rolls on screen.

A scene from Saunders’ film will screen during the youth and amateur portion of the festival. She wrote the script for “Caroline” at age 16. She and her brother, Kevin, even filmed a version of it.

“We’d always made movies together from the time our mom brought home a big boxy video camera she got from a garage sale for $5,” Saunders, now 22, said. “But that early version was really bad and cheesy.”

She was looking for a new film project last year when her mother suggested dusting off the “Caroline” script, a Jane Austen-inspired period piece about a young woman whose plans for the future are derailed when she hears through the rumor mill that the object of her desire might be engaged to another woman.

“I made a bunch of changes, but the biggest was adding characters so we could include all of our friends,” Saunders said.

Saunders submitted a scene depicting a duet with the two lead characters for the festival.

“Usually we hear about all the cool things happening in Portland, so to have something like a hometown film festival is important. Anyone can make a film, but sometimes we need to see other people doing it first,” Saunders said.

While small films make waves, several Northwest filmmakers are poised to make a big splash as part of the Northwest Emerging Filmmakers series.

Covallis director Robert Neary’s film, “Andrus: The Man, The Mind & The Magic,” is one of five selected for the honor.

Neary met his documentary subject, Jerry Andrus, a magician and all-around tinkerer, through local a skeptics group. The film explores Andrus’ passion for life and the forces that forged his unique perspectives.

“Jerry was a man who lived with great intensity, with a sense of wonder and appreciation for all the beauty of life, and he found ways explore those through magic and illusion,” Neary said. It was those qualities that made Andrus, the man, more important than any of his tricks, he added.

“He didn’t believe people were fooled because they were dumb, but because the brain is doing so much work behind the scenes,” Neary said.

Film festivals are an integral part of the local art community, according to Neary.

“There’s a lot of creativity floating around everywhere,” he said. “Local festivals, like the Salem Film Festival, showcase that talent for the rest of the world.”

For more information about the Salem Film Festival, see the festival guide inserted in to the April issue of Salem Monthly, or visit http://www.salemfilmfestival.com.