Every year, hundreds of independant movies are overlooked by the Academy when often they deserve more recognition than the widely distributed ones. The Oscars have become political and it is becoming less and less about the talent involved in film making. This year the Sundance Film Festival was slow to produce anything hitting large audiences, but this does not mean the films were lacking.

One film in particular - Phoebe in Wonderland has grasped the attention of every audience it has come across and it is all because of young Elle Fanning. Elle delivers a strong emotional performance as Phoebe unlike any seen before from a child. Phoebe Lichten is a little girl who struggles in a rule-obsessed world and is bullied for being different. She lands the lead role in the school play, Alice in Wonderland, and finds solace with the practices and becomes very fond of her new drama teacher. At nine years old, her effort and dedication to portray such a complex character is outstanding. Her emotional crying scene has shocked many people and can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9OqrY3geFs To prepare for this scene, Elle spent the whole day acting very sad and unusually quiet. Her Grandma told everyone on set to excuse Elle for the behaviour, and that she was getting into the mood for the scene. Immediately after, she hopped off the bed and expressed how fun the performance was.

We the undersigned hereby ask that Elle be recognised for this amazing performance and is considered for the Academy Awards 2009.