SF State College of Ethnic Studies and College of Creative Arts/Cinema Department present:
An Evening with Justin Lin and Friends: director of 'Finishing the Game,' 'Better Luck Tomorrow,' 'Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift' speaks at SF State on Oct. 18
SAN FRANCISCO, October 2, 2007 -- Acclaimed filmmaker Justin Lin and colleagues will visit San Francisco State University's Knuth Hall from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18, for a special guest lecture. Admission is free.

"An Evening with Justin Lin and Friends" will include a talk by Lin and actors from his new movie "Finishing the Game," which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and will be released by IFC Films this fall. The film is a satire on the production of Bruce Lee's final film "The Game of Death." At SF State, Lin will answer questions from the audience and screen a 15-minute clip from "Building a Journey -- From Better Luck Tomorrow to Finishing The Game," a documentary about the making of his latest film. SF State's College of Ethnic Studies and College of Creative Arts/Cinema Department are sponsors of the event.

Lin's solo directorial debut, "Better Luck Tomorrow," premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. Paramount/MTV Films picked up the film and released it in April 2003. Renowned film critics including Ebert and Roeper listed "Better Luck Tomorrow" as one of the top five films of the year. "Better Luck Tomorrow," which Lin also co-wrote, co-produced and edited, garnered a John Cassavetes Award nomination at the 2004 Independent Spirit Awards.

After "Better Luck Tomorrow," Lin ventured into the studio world with his second solo feature, "Annapolis," starring James Franco, Tyrese Gibson and Jordana Brewster, released nationwide in January 2006. He directed "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift," which was released in June 2006 and grossed more than $150 million worldwide.

Lin holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Fine Arts in film directing from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he wrote, directed and produced numerous award-winning short films. Early in his career, Lin served as production coordinator of the Media Arts Center for the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, where he created several educational television pilots and documentaries such as "Passing Through," which was featured on PBS, and the multimedia project "J-Town Rhapsody," an eight-screen video installation that received several awards including the Crystal Communicator Award of Excellence.

Lin serves on the board of directors for Visual Communications, a Los Angeles-based Asian American media arts organization that provides mentorship and guidance to emerging filmmakers. He gives guest lectures at U.S. film schools frequently.

Born out of the student strike and social movements 40 years ago, SF State's College of Ethnic Studies is the only one of its kind in the United States. Comprised of Africana, Asian American, Native American and Raza Studies, the College offers an Ethnic Studies graduate program and is home to the Cesar Chavez Institute, which is dedicated to studying and documenting the impact of social oppression on the health, education, and well being of disenfranchised communities in the U.S.

Founded during the political activism and artistic experimentation of the 1960s, the SF State Cinema Department has educated generations of filmmakers including Academy Award winners Steven Zaillian (Best Screenplay, "Schindler's List," 1994), Christopher Boyes (Best Sound, "Titanic," 1998, "Pearl Harbor," 2001, "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," 2004) and Steve Okazaki (Best Short Documentary, "Days of Waiting," 1991). In 2000, Entertainment Weekly named the department one of the nation's top film schools.

Location and Parking
Knuth Hall is located in the Creative Arts building on the SF State campus, 1600 Holloway Ave. (at 19th Ave.), San Francisco. Public parking is available in Lot 20 on the SF State campus, accessed from Lake Merced Boulevard between Winston Drive and Font Boulevard. Parking is $1 per hour with a $5 daily maximum. For details, visit www.sfsu.edu/~parking.

Calendar Editors, Please Note:
"An Evening with Justin Lin and Friends" Sponsored by the SF State College of Ethnic Studies and College of Creative Arts/Cinema Department
7 - 9:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 18
Knuth Hall, Creative Arts building, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave. (at 19th Ave.), San Francisco
Admission: Free
Information: http://creativearts.sfsu.edu, www.sfsu.edu/~ethnicst, 415/338-1693