all day: Exhibit

Starting in 1852, the ship Central America shuttled Gold Rush riches between Panama and New York--that is until a hurricane sank the vessel in 1857, drowning 578 people and sending millions of dollars in gold to the bottom of the Atlantic. As chronicled in Gary Kinder’s bestseller “Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea,” the Central America finally was found in 1986 by treasure hunter Thomas G. Thompson (backed by $10 million in investors’ money). Now, the gold--recently sold to a group of investors from Newport Beach--will be on display for the first time at the Long Beach Coin and Collectibles Expo. The $10 million in coins and gold bars will be housed in a specially built secure replica of the ship’s hull. The display will include the world’s largest gold bar, which weighs nearly 80 pounds.

* Long Beach Coin and Collectibles Expo, Long Beach Convention Center, 100 S. Pine Ave., Long Beach. Today-Saturday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. $4. (562) 436-3636.

8 pm: Pop Music

How are things out on the sonic frontier? Tonight’s El Rey Theatre bill finds the experimental imperative tempered by the comforts of accessible pop, and the dismantling of genre boundaries proceeding rapidly. Mu-Ziq (Mike Paradinas), who last played the U.S. opening for Bjork, is all over the map on his latest album, “Royal Astronomy,” while co-headliners Luke Vibert & BJ Cole--an unusual pairing of DJ and free-ranging pedal steel virtuoso--bring together everything from Hawaiian to hip-hop.

* Mu-Ziq, with Luke Vibert & BJ Cole, DJ Jun, today at El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Blvd., 8 p.m. $15. (213) 371-1957.

8 pm: Film Festival

The 8th Annual Pan-African Film & Art Festival kicks off this evening with two premiere screenings: Jim Jarmusch’s “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai,” which stars Forest Whitaker as a professional assassin who operates by the samurai code, and Brazilian director Carlos Diegues’ “Orfeu,” which stars Toni Garrido and Patricia Franca and is set during Rio’s Carnaval. The closing-night film on Feb. 21 will be the premiere of New Line Cinema’s “Love and Basketball,” which stars Omar Epps and Sanaa Lathan. Between the opening- and closing-night films are dozens of movies from around the world (Ghana, Co^te d’Ivoire, Jamaica, South Africa, Canada and the U.S.), a celebrity fashion show on Feb. 18, children’s film programs on Saturday and Feb. 19, filmmaking seminars and much more. Actress CCH Pounder (“ER,” “End of Days”) is this year’s celebrity host.

* 8th Annual Pan-African Film and Art Festival, Magic Johnson Theaters, 4020 Marlton Ave., Baldwin Hills. Opening-night gala: “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai,” with short film “A Lucy,” 8 p.m.; “Orfeu,” 8:10 p.m. Party to follow at Voodoo Lounge, 4120 W. Olympic Blvd., Baldwin Hills. The festival will continue through Feb. 21. Check special screenings listings in Weekend and Sunday Calendar for full schedule. Gala tickets: $40 to $150; general admission, $4.95 to $7.75. Theater box office, (323) 290-5900; festival information, (213) 896-8221. The fine arts and craft show will be on exhibit at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, 3650 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Today-Feb. 21.

*

FREEBIE: Film music expert Mark Cantor presents a lecture and screening, “Song Meets Celluloid: A History of Music Video,” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. Tickets available after 6 p.m. For reservations, call between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. (323) 857-6000, Ext. 3017.