Nancy was honored to be invited to host the Donkaphant Film Festival at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Yes, that’s right—Donkaphant. Nancy suggested that perhaps it should be called Elephonkey! Put on by YOUnited Foundation, it is an independent film festival “for the people, by the people,” celebrating short films that feature stories about freedom, the political process and the trials and tribulations of people and our planet. The YOUnited Foundation’s mission is “to maximize the power of film and use the art form to inspire, educate, motivate and stimulate communities into action.” Other non-profit organizations were also represented and supplied films for the festival, including Happy House, Heal the Bay, Direct the Relief International, Jacaranda Foundation, Legalize LA, National Parkinson Foundation, Tree People, Youth Policy Institute, California Forward and others.

Part of the mission of the festival, co-founded by Justin Scot and Graham Sibley is to create awareness and encourage young people in particular to get out and vote and become active members of the citizenry. The theme of the evening was “Beat 1960!” with the hope that voter turnout would exceed that year’s impressive total.

Speakers on behalf of the presidential candidates were invited. Broadcast journalist and producer Giselle Fernandez represented the Obama campaign and Dutch Merrick spoke on behalf of the Ralph Nader candidacy. The McCain representative was unable to attend. Also present were politicians and notables including California State Senator Ron S. Calderon and former Congresswoman Bobbi Fiedler.

Nancy eloquently emphasized the importance of participating in the political process and how much we have at stake. She, of course, added humor (and a bit of Bart) to her remarks and was, as always, a crowd pleaser. She closed the evening thanking the filmmakers of the nine films screened, reinforced the message to vote and reminded people how important it is to support the philanthropic causes of their choice.

Nancy further noted, “A great man once said that ‘A culture is only as great as its dreams and its dreams are dreamed by artists.’ ”