Here's something you don't hear often in San Francisco: free and worth your time in the same sentence.

The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is hosting a free screening of short films under the banner "Conjuring Power," and honestly, we're here for it. In a city where a movie ticket runs you $18 before you even think about popcorn, YBCA opening its doors at no cost is the kind of cultural offering that deserves attention.

Details on the specific films in the lineup are slim, but YBCA has a solid track record of curating programming that's genuinely thought-provoking — the kind of short films that challenge you without lecturing you. Whether you're a film nerd or just someone looking for a reason to wander SoMa on a budget, this is a low-risk, high-reward evening out.

And let's talk about the bigger picture for a second. YBCA is one of those San Francisco institutions that actually delivers value to the community without constantly rattling a tin cup at City Hall for eight-figure bailouts. Free programming like this is how you build cultural engagement — by lowering barriers and letting the work speak for itself, not by throwing taxpayer money at consultants to study why nobody shows up to events that cost $45 a head.

This is what community arts should look like: accessible, interesting, and funded without a line item in someone's bloated departmental budget.

If you're in the neighborhood, swing by. Support the institutions that respect your wallet. And if nothing else, it's an excuse to grab dinner at one of the dozen solid spots around Yerba Buena Lane afterward — though that part, unfortunately, won't be free.