ZIMBABWE enjoyed its first taste of Oscar glory on Sunday night when the film ‘Music by Prudence’ won the Best Short Documentary gong at the 2010 Academy Awards.
"Music by Prudence" documents Prudence Mabhena's life. She's a 21-year-old from Bulawayo who has arthrogryposis, a congenital disorder that crippled her arms and legs.
Few Oscar films have packed in more profundity per minute than the tale of Prudence and seven other disabled young musicians transcending bigotry and isolation through art and fellowship.
"This is amazing. Two years ago when I flew to Zimbabwe, I never imagined I would wind up here," said Roger Ross Williams, the film's American producer-director, as he accepted the award. "This is for Prudence."
In the audience, Prudence beamed from her wheelchair after making the trip to the Awards having earlier expressed doubts because of problems with her visa.
The only blemish on Prudence’s incredible night was producer Elinor Burkett borrowing a move from Kanye West's playbook when she stormed the stage and interrupted Williams' acceptance. The two collaborated on the movie.
Burkett, the film's producer, unexpectedly joined Williams on the stage and immediately commandeered the microphone, taking a jab at how women are never allowed to speak over men. "Isn't that just the classic thing," she said.
Speaking about the message of "Music by Prudence," Burkett said: "You know, in a world in which most of us are told and tell ourselves that we can't, Liyana, the band behind the film, teaches us that we're wrong.
“Against all odds, they did so we can. The bottom line is, to me, my role models and my heroes [are the members of Liyana]."
MUSIC BY PRUDENCE: THE STORY BEHIND THE FILM
Although attitudes are changing, many Zimbabwean communities still regard handicaps as signs of sorcery. So singer-songwriter Mabhena and her bandmates in the Afro-fusion marimba group Liyana were stigmatised at birth.
Not every band member has an affliction as visible and extreme as Mabhena's: She suffers from arthrogryposis, a condition that deforms joints and cost her both her legs.
But all the band members survived brutal or apathetic treatment at the hands of parents and/or siblings who regarded them as stains on the family's reputation or drags on the family's fortune.
They found their individual and group voices only when they landed at the King George VI School & Centre for Children with Physical Disabilities in Bulawayo. It's not just an academy but an institution devoted to their physical and psychological care.
In the King George VI School environment, Mabhena was able to dream of reaching an international audience with her singing.
On Oscar night, that audience got a glimpse of her gliding across the red carpet in a green dress, with Williams on her side.
And at the Governor’s Ball following the Oscars, Prudence mixed with American screen royalty including chat show queen, Oprah Winfrey.
Delight ... Director Roger Ross Williams with Prudence after their film won
the Best Short Documentary gong at the 2010 Academy Awards