The deadpan pleasures of Aki Kaurismaki's Ariel, featured tonight at Lincoln Center's Young Friends of Film event (Photo: Kino International)

Attention all cineastes between 21-40, Aki Kaurismaki followers, jazz fans, singles, cocktail partygoers and/or any blend therein: Consider stopping by the Walter Reade Theater tonight for the Film Society of Lincoln Center's latest Young Friends of Film event. I have told you about these guys before--they hosted a midsummer tribute to Campbell Scott that turned out to be one of most relaxed, engaging film parties of the year--but they also gather bimonthly for some even MORE down-to-earth screenings and soirees.

Take this evening's get-together, featuring Kaurismaki's underseen 1988 Finnish road-trip comedy Ariel. The film premiered at that year's New York Film Festival--which, along with the Film Society's New Directors/New Films Festival, provides the primary source for YFF material. "I kind of view the most important thing as trying to pick films that people will obviously enjoy," YFF producer Sara Bensman told The Reeler after August's screening of Nicole Holofcener's Walking and Talking. "But there will be something that wouldn't necessarily have been a film people would have seen already. Whether it's a film that's a little edgier or maybe a little artsier than they normally would see. If it's something like in the case of this film, maybe it was overlooked or forgotten or people don't really know about."

Regrettably, Kaurismaki will not be around to deadpan an introduction tonight, but past appearances include discussions with the Coen brothers and Frances McDormand following a screening of Blood Simple, while December's YFF event will welcome two-time New York Film Fest alum Noah Baumbach to present his debut film, Kicking and Screaming. Past gala honorees include Pedro Almodovar, Kevin Bacon and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

"It's just fun because it's people who are young and interested in film, so you automatically have things in common," said Annemarie Uliasz, a Manhattan doctor who has attended the events since April's screening of Belle De Jour. "You never know if you're going to meet a friend, and you get to learn background about the film that you wouldn't otherwise get to know, because they're always bringing in the directors or actors or someone who's somehow related to the film and giving you that perspective."

Screening tickets cost $25 and include access to an open-bar reception adjacent to the theater. The Film Society also offers Young Friends of Film memberships at $225 per year, which include one ticket to each film and discounted tickets to the annual gala tribute. Just an FYI--and even if the movie is dreadful, there will be wine and and a few film-geek hotties in the lobby. If that is not pretty much the definition of "no-brainer," then I do not know what is.