Film about “everyday heroes” in the lives of urban Latino youth screens at the White Festival
By hola | Published | No Comments
This weekend President Obama is inviting over a few young creative types for the second annual White House Student Film Festival.
More than 1,500 films from around the world were submitted via YouTube. They are all about community service–the theme of this year’s festival. The student filmmakers had to demonstrate how they give back to their communities or participate in community service.
In addition to the 15 official selections by youth, the White House is also showing the documentary, “TEACH,” by Academy Award winner Davis Guggenheim. The film highlights the daily life of four teachers doing inspiring work at urban schools with a lot of minority students, particularly Latinos or Latinas. The film explores how the student’s lives are impacted by the realities in their community, and portrays the struggles of the four teachers as they strive to instill hope, despite the difficulties present in their students’ lives. The short film demonstrates the dedication and service schoolteachers bring to work that often goes unrecognized by society. It’s also an uplifting tale that shows we can all become “everyday heroes,” just like the teachers in the documentary.
Screenings began earlier today and will continue on Saturday at the Newseum with encore screenings of the official selection as well as other films that made it to the final round of judging. There will also be break-out sessions with movie industry professionals and film making workshops. Besides the invited guests, the movies are being streamed live on the White House website, so you can catch them here!
—Kristin Thompson
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