The Oscar win last Sunday has been such a great gift. Not just for me, my crew, and HBO, for having made the film we wanted to make, but most of all for Prudence, her band Liyana, and the King George VI school for Children with Disabilities in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Prudence and her band members are disabled. She was abandoned and seen as a curse by the members of her family, and she has conquered so much and offers the world so much with her beautiful music.

When I started this project, I was very interested in making a film in Africa, yet I didn’t want to make a film about misery, war, or aids. I wanted to tell a story of hope.

My film focuses on a band of disabled kids, and the school they’re in. But I knew even before I went there, that the film had to have a central character, and it was obvious it would be Prudence. It became more obvious when I met her. Oh my God, I thought, she’s charismatic and brilliant, and engaging. She’s a very independent person, and she prides herself in doing what she can. But there are limitations. She gets frustrated by her challenges: going to the bathroom, eating, rolling down roads marked by potholes.

During our first interview Prudence told me things about her childhood that she never told anyone before. She cried, and I cried. In the process of being interviewed: you become self-reflective; it’s like being in therapy. She couldn’t wait to tell her story. Nobody had ever heard her story before, or asked. Afterwards, I went to the place where I was staying. I cried and cried and cried. I was just devastated. I was so moved by her strength, her ability to get beyond the moment when she was at her lowest. I was determined to get her story out there, and tell it to the world.

Being nominated for an Oscar really is a wonderful experience. Getting this huge platform for a film that started out on such a small scale, always having believed in the strong story it could tell, is just so rewarding. It opens doors.

I really hope this Oscar opens doors for Prudence, for her band Liyana, and for all the kids at KG VI, and I will do anything I can to make that happen.

Thanks, everyone, for your incredible support! And thank you Prudence, for showing us your beautiful soul, and sharing your wonderful talent. I love you.

Roger Ross Williams