America
American teens' film on India trip leads to global clean-up project
"It's like the Sundance or Cannes of film festivals that are open to
the public through a government website," joked President Barack Obama
as he welcomed young filmmakers to the second annual White House Film
Festival. Among the 15 official selections screened Friday at the
premiere emceed by Indian-American actor Kal Penn and Terrence J was
"Generation Change", a film made by two teenagers after two trips to
India.
Obama noted how the journey of two young women, Allyson
Edwards, 16, and Madison Jaco, 17, led to a global project for a
cleaner, healthier environment in five countries. The two "adopted a
highway to clean up the roads in their hometown of Hawkins, Texas," he
noted.
"So they decided they wanted to make an even bigger
impact, so they reached out to young people all across the globe, and
this is part of the power of the Internet.
"And now you've got
groups in India, France, Nigeria, Benin, Argentina, all getting into the
act - cleaning up their schools and beaches and roads -just because of
these two young women," Obama said amid applause.
The women, who
are a part of an international environmental science programme called
GLOBE, travelled to New Delhi twice to participate in global science
fairs, according to the background provided by the White House.
"There, they discussed how they could help the environment, including local initiatives like Adopt-a-Highway.
"Students
from Argentina, Benin, Croatia, France, India, and Nigeria quickly
hopped on board with the plan. "Since then, the girls have been in
contact with students all across the globe working to achieve their
goal: a cleaner, healthier environment."
The official selections
were picked up from more than 1,500 films from around the world about
this year's theme: The Impact of Giving Back.
The films highlight
the promise of mentorship in the arts and calls for the entertainment
industry to build upon their mentoring programmes and engagement
nationwide.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])