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Obama Hosts 2015 Student Film Festival

White House event helps President launch new Call to Arts initiative.

President Obama is honing in on the importance of art in schools with two particular White House initiatives that will see artistic students shine: the White House Student Film Festival and the new Call to Arts initiative.

According to the White House's official press release, this year's theme for the Film Festival (first launched in 2013) was The Impact of Giving Back. After receiving more than 1,500 submissions from students all around the world, 15 official selections were chosen and shown on the premiere date, Friday, March 20.

While hosting the White House Student Film Festival, President Obama also officially announced the new Call to Arts initiative through the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). The program was put into action to help inspire and mentor young artists throughout the United States.

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Making the project that much more exciting, Obama further announced that the American Film Institute (AFI) and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) have agreed to work with the White House and the participants toward an ultimate goal of providing one million mentor hours over the next three years in collaboration with the CNCS.

President Obama's initiative goes hand-in-hand with First Lady Michelle Obama's Reach Higher initiative, which encourages campus groups and college students to connect with high schoolers in a mentor-mentee format with the expectation of helping them to complete their higher education.

The selected films and more information about the Call to Arts initiative can be found at whitehouse.gov

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(Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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