November 14, 2008 — The California State University Summer Arts program is pleased to announce that San Francisco State University student, Theodore Allen, won recognition at the 2008 Media Arts Festival (MAF) held November 7th and 8th at CSU Channel Islands in Camarillo, CA. A total of 175 entries from the CSU 23 campus system were received and judged by a panel of industry experts who chose 35 finalists for award competition within nine categories: Animation, Documentary, Experimental, Interactive, Music Video, Narrative, Television, Feature Screenplay, and Short Screenplay.

Delroy Lindo, the SF State alumnus known for his roles in "The Cider House Rules," "Malcolm X" and "Get Shorty," has moved behind the scenes in live theatre, directing August Wilson's "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

A Nov. 6 review by Chad Jones in the San Francisco Examiner notes that Lindo "pays close attention to the details that infuse Wilson’s play with so much intensity. There’s the play we see and hear, and then there’s the subtext, where chains of the past, religious beliefs and the supernatural are waging a mighty battle.

John Fell, a professor emeritus of Cinema, died Oct. 9 at age 81. The Cinema Department will celebrate Fell with a reception at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 3, in the August Coppola Theatre, Fine Arts Building.

Fell taught at SF State from 1960 to 1984. He was a noted historian, scholar and jazz musician. "John was a pioneer of the film education movement and a fearless leader," said Cinema Professor Jim Kitses in an obituary published in the Nov. 2 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle.