Music by Prudence
- April 2010 (2010-04)
Zimbabwe[1]
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]
See also
- iThemba, another documentary film about Liyana
References
External links
- Music by Prudence at IMDb
- Official website
- Official Liyana Website
- King George VI Centre and School for Children with Physical Disabilities
- Excerpt
- v
- t
- e
- 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)
- 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)
- Thoth (2001)
- Twin Towers (2002)
- Chernobyl Heart (2003)
- Mighty Times: The Children's March (2004)
- A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin (2005)
- The Blood of Yingzhou District (2006)
- Freeheld (2007)
- Smile Pinki (2008)
- Music by Prudence (2009)
- Strangers No More (2010)
- Saving Face (2011)
- Inocente (2012)
- The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life (2013)
- Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 (2014)
- A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness (2015)
- The White Helmets (2016)
- Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405 (2017)
- Period. End of Sentence. (2018)
- Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) (2019)
- Colette (2020)
- The Queen of Basketball (2021)
- The Elephant Whisperers (2022)
- The Last Repair Shop (2023)