Music by Prudence

2010 American film

April 2010 (2010-04)

Running time

33 minutesCountriesUnited States
Zimbabwe^[1]LanguageEnglish

Music by Prudence is a 2010 short documentary film directed by Roger Ross Williams. It tells the story of the then 24-year-old Zimbabwean singer-songwriter Prudence Mabhena, and follows her transcendence from a world of hatred and superstition into one of music, love, and possibilities.

Music by Prudence won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) at the 82nd Academy Awards.^[2] The film premiered on HBO on 12 May 2010.

Synopsis

Music by Prudence tells a self-empowering story of one young woman's struggle who, together with her band, overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds and, in her own voice, conveys to the world that "disability does not mean inability."

Zimbabwean singer-songwriter Prudence Mabhena was born severely disabled. The society she was born into considers disabilities to carry the taint of witchcraft.^[3] Because of this, many disabled children are abandoned. But Prudence and the seven young members of the band she has formed called Liyana, all disabled, have managed to overcome stereotypes and inspire the same people that once saw them as a curse.

The main subjects of Music by Prudence, and members of the band "Liyana", are:

Prudence Mabhena – singer and composer (suffers from arthrogryposis)
Tapiwa Nyengera – back-up singer, keyboard, front man (has spina bifida)
Energy Maburutse – first marimba player, back-up vocalist (suffers from osteogenesis imperfecta, brittle bone syndrome)
Honest Mupatse – tenor marimba player (has hemophilia)
Marvelous Mbulo – back-up singer (has muscular dystrophy)
Vusani Vuma – bass marimba player (is hearing-impaired)
Goodwell Nzou – traditional drums and percussion, back-up singer (leg amputated)
Farai Mabhande – lead keyboardist (suffers from arthrogryposis)

Awards

On 7 March 2010, Music by Prudence won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject).^[4]

Elinor Burkett, co-producer of the film, interrupted Roger's speech which lead to an apology from her on The Joy Behar Show and Roger redo his acceptance speech on Larry King Live alongside their departing friendship.^[5]

References

^ Trailer on YouTube
^ 2010|Oscars.org
^ "Oscar nomination for 'Music by Prudence' about disabled Zimbabwean singer Prudence Mabhena". San Francisco BayView. 5 March 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
^ Short Film Winners: 2010 Oscars
^ Oscar interrupter says she was wronged - CNN.com

External links

Music by Prudence at IMDb
Official website
Official Liyana Website
King George VI Centre and School for Children with Physical Disabilities
Excerpt

Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film

1941–1975

Churchill's Island (1941)
No Award (1942)
December 7th (1943)
With the Marines at Tarawa (1944)
Hitler Lives (1945)
Seeds of Destiny (1946)
First Steps (1947)
Toward Independence (1948)
A Chance to Live / So Much for So Little (1949)
Why Korea? (1950)
Benjy (1951)
Neighbours (1952)
The Alaskan Eskimo (1953)
Thursday's Children (1954)
Men Against the Arctic (1955)
The True Story of the Civil War (1956)
No Award (1957)
Ama Girls (1958)
Glass (1959)
Giuseppina (1960)
Project Hope (1961)
Dylan Thomas (1962)
Chagall (1963)
Nine from Little Rock (1964)
To Be Alive! (1965)
A Year Toward Tomorrow (1966)
The Redwoods (1967)
Why Man Creates (1968)
Czechoslovakia 1968 (1969)
Interviews with My Lai Veterans (1970)
Sentinels of Silence (1971)
This Tiny World (1972)
Princeton: A Search for Answers (1973)
Don't (1974)
The End of the Game (1975)

1976–2000

Number Our Days (1976)
Gravity Is My Enemy (1977)
The Flight of the Gossamer Condor (1978)
Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist (1979)
Karl Hess: Toward Liberty (1980)
Close Harmony (1981)
If You Love This Planet (1982)
Flamenco at 5:15 (1983)
The Stone Carvers (1984)
Witness to War: Dr. Charlie Clements (1985)
Women – for America, for the World (1986)
Young at Heart (1987)
You Don't Have to Die (1988)
The Johnstown Flood (1989)
Days of Waiting (1990)
Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons and Our Environment (1991)
Educating Peter (1992)
Defending Our Lives (1993)
A Time for Justice (1994)
One Survivor Remembers (1995)
Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien (1996)
A Story of Healing (1997)
The Personals (1998)
King Gimp (1999)
Big Mama (2000)