Japanese actress Youki Kudoh attends screening of Universal's Snow Falling on Cedars

VAN99112121 - 21 NOVEMBER 1999 - VANCOUVER, B.C. CANADA: Japanese actress and pop singer Youki Kudoh in front of a picture of the partly completed National Nikkei Heritage Center in Vancouver's Hotel Georgia, November 21, at the gala reception following the screening of Universal's Snow Falling on Cedars based on the hit novel of the same name by David Guterson which explores the affect of the Japanese internment on a Pacific Northwest community. Filmed in British Columbia, Washington state and California, Snow Falling on Cedars is produced by Kathleen Kennedy and husband Frank Marshall and directed by Scott Hicks (Shine) starring Youki Kudoh, Ethan Hawke, James Cromwell, Richard Jenkins, James Rebhorn, Sam Shephard, Rick Yune and Max Von Sydow and will open nationwide in the U.S.A on January 07. Proceeds from the screening and following gala go towards building a national Japanese-Canadian cultural center in Burnaby as part of the Nikkei Place project which includes a seniors' residence and supportive housing project. hr/H. Ruckemann UPI