‘Music by Prudence’
Documentary short
“Music by Prudence”
Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
In a category some might be surprised to still see on the broadcast in a year of 10 best picture nominees, the Oscar for documentary short subject went to “Music by Prudence,” made by Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett, the story of a band of disabled musicians in Zimbabwe.
Williams made it to the stage first and had begun speaking when Burkett stepped to the microphone and excitedly began to talk over Williams, saying, “In a world in which most of us are told, and tell ourselves, that we can’t, we honor the band behind this film who teaches us that we’re wrong. Against all odds, they did, so we can.”
The other nominated films were “The Last Truck: The Closing of a GM Plant,” made by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert; “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province,” made by Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill; “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner,” made by Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher; and “Rabbit à la Berlin,” made by Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra.
Only good movies
Get the Indie Focus newsletter, Mark Olsen's weekly guide to the world of cinema.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
