7 pm: Movies

The American Cinematheque and the Independent Feature Project/West are teaming up to present a special screening of the independent movie “The Girls’ Room.” The tart comedy-drama from first-time director Irene Turner is set at a Southern university and focuses on two young women (Cat Taber and Soleil Moon Frye) who outwardly could not appear more different--one is a debutante who’s engaged to the campus hunk (Wil Wheaton), the other is a sullen and self-destructive bohemian. The film is loosely based on screenwriter Amanda L. Beall’s college experience. Turner, Beall and others from the cast and crew will take part in a post-screening discussion.

* “The Girls’ Room,” Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at the Egyptian, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. 7 p.m. $5 to $7. (323) 466-FILM.

8 pm: Pop Music

In the annals of Los Angeles rock, Little Feat occupies a niche as a one-of-a-kind, both for the idiosyncratic vision of its original leader, Lowell George, (who died in 1979) and for the syncopated surrealism of its approach to the breadth of Southern musical forms. Two original members, keyboardist Bill Payne and drummer Richie Hayward, lead the current edition, which makes a rare appearance tonight in a benefit for the nonprofit organization Free Arts for Abused Children.

* Little Feat, with the Smith/Sparado Band, El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Blvd., 8 p.m. $30. (323) 936-4790.

11 am: Art

Works by local artists who received cultural grant fellowships last year from the city of Los Angeles will be showcased in “C.O.L.A. 2000,” which opened earlier this week at the UCLA Hammer Museum. Works in all media by mid-career artists Lynn Aldrich, Nancy Buchanan, Ingrid Calame, Carole Caroompas, Barbara Carrasco, John Divola, Robbert Flick, Michael Gonzalez, Daniel Martinez, Susan Mogul, Linda Nishio and Millie Wilson will be paired with the exhibition “Likeness: Some Recent Portrait Drawings by David Hockney.”

* “C.O.L.A. 2000,” UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. Ends June 4. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Thursdays, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sundays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Adults, $4.50; seniors and students, $3; children 17 and younger, free. (310) 443-7000.

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FREEBIE: Former Squirrel Bait frontman Peter Searcy headlines a national tour of three alt-rock acts that’s hitting the nation’s Hard Rock Cafes. Searcy, Neve and Frankie Machine play at the Hard Rock Cafe, 8600 Beverly Blvd., West Hollywood. 8 p.m. (310) 276-7605.