A group of student filmmakers from across the United States joined President Barack Obama at the White House this month for the second annual White House Student Film Festival.

Fifteen short films were officially selected from more than 1,500 entries by students aged 6 through 18.  The filmmakers and their families then joined the president and a group of celebrities for a special screening of their films.

Among the celebrities was actress Hilary Swank, who said she was “deeply honored to be joining all of you in celebrating the impressive artistry of these young filmmakers.”

The 15 films screened at the White House festival shared a common theme: “The Impact of Giving Back.”

The film “We Starts With Me” featured second-grade students at a school in Boulder, Colorado, saying what they would do to make the world a better place. Eight-year-old filmmaker Sadie Menendez said the project evolved from an original song into a film.

The film “C.H.A.M.P.S.,” which stands for Culturally Helping And Making Positive Success, was made by participants in the C.H.A.M.P.S. mentoring program at a high school on Chicago’s South Side.

“We have 100 young men in the C.H.A.M.P.S. program, and our number one goal is to expose the world to positive messages,” said program founder Vondale Singleton. “You hear about the violence, you hear about the gun violence, the sleepless nights, the gangs, but these young men have proven to the world that they’re going to be the future leaders.”

Another film told the story of Archer Hadley, a student with cerebral palsy who had a difficult time navigating the doors at his school in Austin, Texas. That frustration led him to raise money so his school could install automatic doors.

“I got stuck out in the rain, and that was the inspiration for my project,” he said. “I needed to raise $40,000 and I raised over $87,000.”

Hadley’s classmates made a film about his achievement, “The Archer Hadley Story.” Ben Root, who produced, directed and edited the film, said Hadley “did something just amazing. He raised $87,000 to change our school, and you’ve got to capture stories like that. You’ve got to tell stories with film. That’s what film is all about — telling a story.”

Adam Greenbaum contributed to this story.
…