The White House Student Film Festival was an annual event held by the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

and co-sponsored by the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

. During the inaugural festival in 2014, students in Kindergarten through 12th Grade were able to submit short films about "why technology is so important, and how it will change the educational experience for kids in the future." 16 videos were selected to be screened out of over 2,500 submitted videos. Several celebrity guests were in attendance, including

Kal Penn Kalpen Suresh Modi (born April 23, 1977), known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, academic lecturer, and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration. As an actor, he is known for his role portrayin ...

, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and

Bill Nye William Sanford Nye (born November 27, 1955), popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American mechanical engineer, science communicator, and television presenter. He is best known as the host of the science television show ''Bill ...

. The 16 video selections were sorted into four categories: Young Visionaries, Future Innovators, World of Tomorrow, and Building Bridges. The second year of the festival took place at the

and the Newseum in Washington, DC on March 20 and 21, 2015, with a theme of "the Impact of Giving Back". In 2016, the event was held on October 2, immediately preceding the White House's South by South Lawn festival. The theme was "The World I Want to Live In".

2014 Video Selections

Young Visionaries

* ''Discovery'' by Tiffany Lin * ''Thru the Lens of a Tiger'' by Alicia Oluhara and Jason Perry * ''Stay Curious: Technology in the Classroom'' by Kayla Briet * ''Teleportation Investigation of 2014'' by The Extrazzlers - Caroline Proffit, Elizabeth Russell, Natalie Koeritzer, and Lexus Wolf * ''Beyond the Crossfire'' by Gabriel Garcia, Tirsa Mercado, Rachel Walden, and High Tech High * ''Technology, Documentary, My Dad, and Me'' by Shelly Ortiz

Future Innovators

* ''PIP'' by Richard White, Nicolas Ramey and Emil Willmann * ''Technology and Me'' by East Silver Spring Elementary 1st Grade * ''Art Tech Collaboration'' by Highlands and Mill Street Elementary Schools

World of Tomorrow

* ''Tomorrow's Classroom'' by Alexander Emerson
''Technology In Education: A Future Classroom''
b
Daniel Nemroff
* ''Full S AM Ahead – How Technology Rocks the Classroom'' by Miles Pilchik, Gabrielle Nafie, and the children of SciTech Kids

Building Bridges

* ''Double Time'' by Joshua Leong and Stephen Sheridan * ''Hello From Malaysia'' by

Kira Bursky Kira Bursky is a filmmaker, screenwriter, and artist currently based out of Asheville, NC. All Around Artsy was founded in 2009 by Kira Bursky, a vagabonding storyteller with an insatiable hunger for magic. She has produced over 60 films and musi ...

* ''Alex'' by Aaron Buangsuwon and Alex Buangsuwon * ''A Day In the Life of Kyle'' by Justin Etzine, Kyle Weintraub, Marni Rosenblatt, and Rachel Huss

References

{{reflist Film festivals in Washington, D.C. Film festivals established in 2014