''Music by Prudence'' is a 2010 short documentary film directed by

Roger Ross Williams Roger Ross Williams (born September 16, 1962) is an American director, producer and writer and the first African American director to win an Academy Award (Oscar), with his short film ''Music by Prudence''; this film won the Academy Award for Bes ...

. 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) This is a list of films by year that have received an Academy Award together with the other nominations for best documentary short film. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are annou ...

at the

82nd Academy Awards The 82nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2009 and took place on March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m ...

. The film premiered on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

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. 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 Arthrogryposis (AMC) describes congenital joint contracture in two or more areas of the body. It derives its name from Greek, literally meaning "curving of joints" (', "joint"; ', late Latin form of late Greek ', "hooking"). Children born with one ...

) *Tapiwa Nyengera – back-up singer, keyboard, front man (has

spina bifida Spina bifida (Latin for 'split spine'; SB) is a birth defect in which there is incomplete closing of the spine and the membranes around the spinal cord during early development in pregnancy. There are three main types: spina bifida occulta, me ...

) *Energy Maburutse – first marimba player, back-up vocalist (suffers from

osteogenesis imperfecta Osteogenesis imperfecta (; OI), colloquially known as brittle bone disease, is a group of genetic disorders that all result in bones that break easily. The range of symptoms—on the skeleton as well as on the body's other organs—may be mi ...

, brittle bone syndrome) *Honest Mupatse – tenor marimba player (has

hemophilia Haemophilia, or hemophilia (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a longer time after an injury, easy bruising, ...

) *Marvelous Mbulo – back-up singer (has

muscular dystrophy Muscular dystrophies (MD) are a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of rare neuromuscular diseases that cause progressive weakness and breakdown of skeletal muscles over time. The disorders differ as to which muscles are primarily affe ...

) *Vusani Vuma – bass marimba player (is

hearing-impaired Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spoken l ...

) *Goodwell Nzou – traditional drums and percussion, back-up singer (leg

amputated Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indivi ...

) *Farai Mabhande – lead keyboardist (suffers from

)

Awards

On 7 March 2010, ''Music by Prudence'' won the 2009

.Short Film Winners: 2010 Oscars
Music by Prudence also won: * the Audience Award for Best Documentary Short at the

Florida Film Festival The Florida Film Festival, produced by Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, is an annual international film festival. Overview The Festival includes narrative and documentary features and shorts, animation, midnight movies, and educational forum ...

* Best Short at the Africa World Documentary Film Festival * Best Short at the DocuWest Film Festival.

References

External links

*
Official website

Official Liyana Website

King George VI Centre and School for Children with Physical Disabilities

Excerpt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Music By Prudence 2010 films Best Documentary Short Subject Academy Award winners 2010s short documentary films American short documentary films Films shot in Zimbabwe Documentary films about people with disability Documentary films about poverty 2010 documentary films Zimbabwean music Documentary films about singers Documentary films about women in music 2010s English-language films 2010s American films

Synopsis

Awards

See also

References

External links