Driven 11th-grader brings “LINSANITY” to Maple Grove theater

By Elaine Dunn

When Victoria Whiteford, a home-schooled 11th-grader at with a passion for sharing the Harvard-graduate-turned- NBA-superstar story of Jeremy Lin, found out “Linsanity” was showing at theaters in Chicago, New York, Houston and cities in California but not in Minneapolis, she went to work.

A driven young lady who never does anything half-heartedly, this young Maple Grove resident got going - she approached influential contacts and jumped through appropriate hoops. Her efforts paid off

and on Thursday evening, Nov. 14, Lin fans will be able to watch “Linsanity” with her at Maple Grove AMC Theater in Arbor Lake at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for this one-night screening are on sale online only at http://www.tugg.com/events/5923. You can purchase tickets online up to four hours before screening!

The film is the true, inspiring story of Jeremy Lin. It chronicles the surprising rise of the Chinese basketball player who, in February 2012, while playing for the New York Knicks, performed a record-breaking string of games, giving the world one of the most remarkable underdog stories ever to unfold in the history of that sport. Director Evan Jackson Leong embarked on this documentary before Lin was a household name, following the future star as he struggled to find his place in a league where Asian-American players are few and far between. More than just a film for basketball addicts, “Linsanity” serves as an insightful study of the way race is perceived in America, and shows what is possible if one believes in oneself.

Whiteford has always been heavily immersed in Asian American culture: she attends a 100 percent Mandarin-speaking Chinese church; she has studied multiple Asian languages and has been learning Mandarin since 2009. A percentage of the proceeds from this showing will go toward Whiteford’s fundraising effort for an educational trip overseas, possibly to China.

Won’t you help Whiteford realize her dream?

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