If you're in Southern California, here's a cool free screening happening this week. As part of its monthly Movies That Made A Difference mini-series, Visual Communications presents Chris Chan Lee's 1997 debut feature Yellow. It's happening this Thursday, February 11 in Little Tokyo. Here are some details:

YELLOW

THURSDAY FEB. 11 | 7:30 PM
Visual Communications
120 Judge John Aiso Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Join us for the February installment of Movies That Made a Difference, featuring Chris Chan Lee's influential 1997 feature debut YELLOW, an entertaining ensemble comedy that follows eight Korean American kids.

Sin Lee, a high school senior, is held up while minding his parents' grocery store. Faced with the dilemma of replacing $1,500, Sin hits the streets of L.A. in hopes of digging up the cash before sunrise. Boasting a cast of new, young actors (including a young John Cho), YELLOW is an optimistic film, marking a new generation of independent and commercial filmmaking for Asian American talent.

A graduate of the USC School of Cinema, Chris Chan Lee has directed numerous music videos and episodic television in addition to his two features, YELLOW and UNDOING (2006).

THIS SCREENING IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

I consider Yellow one of the most important Asian American independent films to come out of the 1990s. I remember it was one of the first times I'd ever seen a movie with young Asian Americans who looked and talked just like me. Back then, that was a pretty big deal. Hell, it's still a pretty big deal.

Talk about a blast from the past. It's been a long time since I've seen it, and I'm curious to see if it still holds up. Find out this Thurdsay at Visual Communications, I guess. For more information about the screening, go to the VC website here.