Of the 45 short and feature-length movies screening this weekend in the Minneapolis Underground Film Festival (or MUFF), not one can be said to have earned its slot for impure reasons.

Indeed, according to founder and programmer Greg Yolen, every filmmaker who submitted his or her movie to the festival -- all 45 -- got an invitation.

"I just can't reject a film," said Yolen with a laugh. "I know what these filmmakers go through. They spend their own money making the movies and usually end up broke by the end. So how am I supposed to say no?"

Naturally, this second annual edition of the collegial MUFF -- held again at Yolen's alma mater, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design -- runs the gamut from A to F. It starts with an arty movie based on a Dostoevsky story (John Koch's "The Seducer") and ends with the merely delectable "Coffee and Bagels." In between are, to name just a few, movies about intrepid kayakers ("Paddle to Seattle"), computerless Carleton students ("Disconnected"), and, uh, canine porn stars ("Porndogs").

Regarding "Porndogs," the programmer has some explaining to do.

Yolen: "It's about a golden lab who finds out she's going to get spayed and runs away from home to have a night on the town. Then, to make money, she goes into the porno business. When I saw the movie, I was rolling on the floor with laughter." (Sadie, the doggie actress, is scheduled to appear at the screening.)

Amazingly, "Porndogs" isn't the most outré film in the MUFF. That distinction belongs to the fest's "secret film," which Yolen says is "so vile that I cannot speak its name." (Hint: It's Norwegian.)

Viewers of the secret film will be required to sign a waiver that exonerates MCAD and the MUFF from blame for any psychic injuries incurred during the screening. Nevertheless, Yolen says his definition of "underground film" isn't synonymous with danger.

"What makes this an 'underground' festival is the fact that most of the films had been stored in people's basements," he says. "It drives me crazy when I hear filmmakers say their work is done after editing, because that's actually the beginning of the real work -- getting the film out there.

"I tell filmmakers, 'Do not take this movie and put it in your basement. It's supposed to play in front of audiences.' My hope is that [the MUFF] helps filmmakers rekindle that spark of inspiration they had before being discouraged by other festivals."