Visionary director George Lucas has received the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in a ceremony at the White House.The president praised his ability "`to open up minds and nourish souls" and to "help us understand what it means to be human, and what it means to be an American".
The president hailed 69-year-old filmmaker for "transforming" movies. "I remember when I first saw Star Wars," said Mr Obama, who was a teenager when the first film was released in 1977. "There's a whole generation that thinks special effects always looked like they do today. But it used to be you'd see the string on the little model spaceships."
22 individuals of significantly lesser importance were also honoured. "The work that we honour today, the lifetime achievement of these artists and these scholars, reminds us that the human imagination is still the most powerful tool that we have as a people," Mr Obama told the medallists.
UPDATED 17:57 - Video from The Washington Post:
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