One of the few unscripted moments last night came when Elinor Burkett, producer of the Best Documentary Short winner "Music by Prudence," stormed the stage and hijacked the microphone as director Roger Ross Williams delivered his acceptance speech.
It was a moment reminiscent of MTV's 2009 Video Music Awards when Kanye West took the mic from Best Female Video winner Taylor Swift. Last night's moment perhaps wasn't as high-profile, but there was at least more to the story than Kanye's questionable decision to drink excessively before the VMAs. So why did Burkett feel the need to get her own comments out to the world?
As she told Salon in an interview at the tail end of the ceremony, "[Williams] and I had a bad difference over the direction of the film that resulted in a lawsuit that has settled amicably out of court." Despite the settlement, Burkett claims that she was left with no choice but to storm the stage as the director would not talk to her in the days leading up to the show.
"This whole week, there have been events thrown by the International Documentary Association, and he hasn't passed any of the invitations on to me," said Burkett, who takes credit for the short's inspiration. The problem between the two related to the direction: Burkett wanted to focus on the entire band, Liyana, while Williams and HBO stuck pretty tightly to Prudence Mabhena, the Zimbabwean singer/songwriter named in the title.
In his defense, Williams claims that Burkett had no place being on the stage. "Only one person is allowed to accept the award," he explained. "I was the director, and she was removed from the project nearly a year ago, but she was able to still qualify as a producer on the project, and be an official nominee." In fact, such was her dissatisfaction with the direction taken that Burkett "removed herself from the project," Williams said.
From Burkett's point of view, she had a right to be on the stage and wasn't simply because the director refused to talk to her. The other side of that argument, is that Williams owns the film. "She has no claim whatsoever," he said. "She has nothing to do with the movie. She just ambushed me. I was sort of in shock."
The upside of this fracas -- proving the old adage that there's no such thing as bad publicity -- is that the Oscar-winning short is getting even more attention now as a result of the sensational angle that's unfolded. "Music by Prudence" presents a picture of the privately funded King George VI School & Centre for Children with Physical Disabilities -- a Zimbabwe-based institution designed to provide aid for local children with disabilities -- through the lens of Prudence Mabhena, a 21-year-old singer/songwriter from Zimbabwe.
You can find out more at the film's website, which I strongly recommend. Putting aside the right/wrong in this situation, "Music by Prudence" has a clear message to deliver, so let's help turn this not-so-happy Oscar moment into something worthwhile.
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