Alicia Keys joins Michelle Obama for film at White House

• First lady kicks off latest initiative with pal Alicia Keys%27 new film
• %27The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete%27 screened at White House

Wearing a jaunty fedora, singer Alicia Keys joined first lady Michelle Obama at the White House today to screen her passion project, The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete, an often-heartbreaking coming-of-age story of two inner-city boys.

Obama said she wept when she first saw the film, and then decided to screen it for educators as part of her new campaign to help more young people make it to and through college.

She praised "my dear friend" Keys for her "eloquence, and her foresight in seeing the value of this movie and investing in it," according to the White House transcript.

"I saw this movie this summer and I wept, like I know all of you all did, because you can't help but weep and laugh and look in horror and cheer for these two young kids. Because they represent all of our kids."

The film tells the story of two boys and what happens when they are left to fend for themselves in New York over the summer after their mothers are taken away by the authorities.

The Grammy-winning Keys was the movie's executive producer and wrote its score. Keys says she's passionate about the story, and passionate about the need to do better for kids.

Speaking to education "stakeholders" in the State Dining Room, Obama, who turns 50 on Friday, directly linked her new education initiative to President Obama's latest effort, to ensure that by the year 2020 the U.S. would once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.

"And for the rest of my time as first lady, in addition to all my other initiatives — so nothing is going away, we're just adding more on," she said as people laughed, "I'm going to be doing my very best to promote these efforts by talking directly with young people. That's my focus. Everybody else is going to be talking about resources, but the one thing I can bring to this is the message that we can give directly to young people.

"I'm going to be conveying the simple truth — I'm going to tell them that they have everything they need to succeed already," she added. "It's all in there, but they still have to be committed to getting their educations."

Both women were dressed in dark colors, Keys in a black leather jacket and fedora and Obama in a silky black blouse and black skirt with a multi-strand crystal necklace adorned with a rose.