POV (US television’s longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction films on PBS) recently hosted IDA’s Doc U on the Road to examine the question “Can Your Doc Really Change the World?” with a panel of documentary heavyweights and the conversation continued afterwards with a Q&A and reception.

The panel included Academy Award-winning director Roger Ross Williams (Music by Prudence), Rachel Libert (Semper Fi: Always Faithful, Boomtown), Diana Barrett, founder of the Fledgling Fund, and Cynthia López, Executive Vice President and Co-Executive Producer of POV.

“When I was tackling the big issue, I could have gotten lost in it. But I realized I have to tell the most compelling, engaging story I can to get people to watch. It has to be about the story first.”

    - Roger Ross Williams, director of Music by Prudence

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Roger Ross Williams took to the microphone first to set the stage for a clip of his 2010 short film Music by Prudence.

“I didn’t set out to make a film that would change the world,” said Williams. But that’s exactly what ended up happening when the film was picked up by HBO and then shortlisted and nominated for an Academy Award.

When people who had watched the Academy Awards began contacting him wanting to know how they could engage more with the issues, Williams realized he needed an actual campaign. Fledgling Fund made this possible. Williams partnered with Human Rights Watch to bring the subject of his film to the US and give her media training to become an effective advocate for the issues that were important to her. The UN, the World Bank, and UNICEF signed on as partners.

Williams believes the biggest impact the film and its campaign had was in Zimbabwe. When Prudence arrived back in her country, hundreds of journalists were on hand for her return. Her father was there, crying and apologizing for abandoning her. She made a speech about the wasted potential of disabled children strengthened by her media training. The two major newspapers in the country had editorials taking the position that Zimbabwe had to change the way disabled people were treated.

Read the full report on the event at documentary.org

Music by Prudence > Oscar winning documentary by Roger Ross Williams, Can Your Doc Really Change the World?

Oscar Kanye Gate has received quite some attention in the past year. The New York Observer presented a list of “Best Watercooler Moments of the Year”, and guess what’s on number 5?

5. “I’mona Let You Finish” at the Oscars

Short documentary filmmaker Roger Ross Williams humbly stepped onstage to accept his Oscar for “Music by Prudence” when out of no where the project’s estranged producer Elinor Burkett co-opted the mike for the sake of “the women.” Williams was later invited to Larry King to finish his speech, but was, ironically, rushed for time and once again couldn’t finish!

Find the full top 11 here.

Music by Prudence > Oscar winning documentary by Roger Ross Williams, The Observer’s Best Water Cooler Moments

The Zimbabwe Times reports about the arrival of Prudence Mabhena, star of Music by Prudence, back in Zimbabwe:

BULAWAYO – Oscar winning disabled musician Prudence Mabhena brought Bulawayo to a standstill when she arrived from the United States on Monday afternoon.

Hundreds of residents, who included politicians from both the MDC and Zanu-PF and the Mayor Patrick Thaba-Moyo, thronged Bulawayo Airport to welcome Mabhena, who landed at 1pm aboard a South Africa Airways flight.

Zimbabwe enjoyed its first taste of Oscar glory two weeks ago when the film ‘Music by Prudence’ won the Best Short Documentary at the 2010 Oscar Academy Awards in US.
Music by Prudence documents Mabhena’s life. She is a 22-year-old from Bulawayo who is crippled by arthrogryposis, a congenital disorder that affected her arms and legs.
She is the lead singer of her band, Liyana.

“I am very proud to win the Oscar Award,” Mabhena told journalists. “The award is not only for me but for my band, Liyana, and for all Zimbabweans. We have proved that disability is not inability.”

Mabhena said she and her band were returning to US in May to feature on the popular Opprah Winfrey show.

“After winning the award I was hosted by Opprah and musician Mariah Carey,” she said. “I am actually going back to the US in May with my band for a show with Opprah.”

From the airport, Mabhena’s car joined a convoy of vehicles stretching almost one kilometre heading to the City Hall where many city residents waited to welcome her.

Her father Herbert Mabhena, who travelled all the way from Jambezi area in Matabeleland North to welcome his daughter, could not hold back his tears when she arrived.
“I am very proud of you my daughter, you have made a great person,” he said.

Mabhena’s group Liyana was formed at Bulawayo’s King George IV School for the disabled and was discovered by Zimbabwe-born Leslie Goldwasser.
Now based in the United States, Goldwasser liked their music and Prudence’s life story while on a visit to Zimbabwe, leading to the group’s first tour of the United States where they performed at the Apollo Theatre in December last year.

Mayor Thaba-Moyo said the city was proud of Mabhena and her group.
“We feel great about what you did,” said Thaba-Moyo. “You have put Bulawayo and Zimbabwe on the world map and we are going to honour you for that.”

Souce: The Zimbabwe Times

Music by Prudence > Oscar winning documentary by Roger Ross Williams, Zimbabwe Times: Hero’s Welcome for Oscar Award Winner

As we now all know, on March 7th 2010, Roger Ross Williams won an Oscar for his documentary short Music by Prudence. It became quite an event…

Music by Prudence > Oscar winning documentary by Roger Ross Williams, Roger & Oscar (video)

The New York Times reports on hanging out with the Oscar winner for best short documentary, Roger Ross Williams, as he makes the obligatory first stop for Oscar winners and nominees.

Read the full article online, or read the print version, appearing on March 14, 2010, on page ST4 of the New York edition.

Music by Prudence > Oscar winning documentary by Roger Ross Williams, New York Times: A Night Out with Roger Ross Williams

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

Music by Prudence > Oscar winning documentary by Roger Ross Williams, Thank you, Prudence!

Tonight, Monday March 8th, 9pm ET, director and producer Roger Ross Williams will be a guest on Larry King Live! He’ll be able to give the Oscar acceptance speech that was interrupted during the ceremony. Go Roger!
CNN – Larry King Live – 9pm ET | 6pm PT

Music by Prudence > Oscar winning documentary by Roger Ross Williams, The Full Speech on Larry King Live!

Music by Prudence just won the Oscar for Best Documentary short!!!!

Director and producer Roger Ross Williams couldn’t complete his acceptance speech on stage, but here is what he planned to say:

“Thank you, Academy. Thank you, Sheila Nevins, Sara Bernstein, my producer Elinor Burkett and my incredible crew.

I love you!!”

Music by Prudence > Oscar winning documentary by Roger Ross Williams, We won!!! We won!!! We won!!!

On February 2, 2010, my film, Music by Prudence, was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Documentary: Short Subject.

The responds so far has been overwhelming, and I like to thank everyone for their warm enthusiasm.

From the outset, this was a special project for me. Shooting in Zimbabwe was certainly one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had.

With the Oscar ceremony ahead on March 7, 2010, the coming weeks will be hectic. But I promise to keep you posted on al things to come from these pages.

Cheers!
Roger Ross Williams

Music by Prudence > Oscar winning documentary by Roger Ross Williams, Nominated for an Oscar!