If you watched the 82nd Annual Academy Awards last night, you saw there weren’t many surprises. Hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were charming and humorous, but there were no really scandalous or risky jokes. Jeff Bridges locked up Best Actor and Sandra Bullock pulled off her expected Best Actress win.
But, there was one surreal moment. It was in the middle of the ceremony when Best Documentary Short was announced. I know what you are thinking “Best Documentary Short?” It is usually during times like this when people go to the kitchen to get a snack.
Last night, Music By Prudence won Best Documentary Short. It is a film about Prudence Mabhena, a young Zimbabwean singer-songwriter and her band Liyana. Prudence is disabled, as is the rest of her band and the story documents how she overcame poverty and discrimination. So how could any scandal come from such a lovely story?
Well, first of all, after the winner was announced, I noticed that director/producer Roger Ross Williams ran to the podium. I figured he was just excited about his win – who wouldn’t be? He began speaking then all the sudden, this red headed woman in purple interrupted him. At first, I was waiting for security to carry her away, thinking she was some crazed woman protesting something. I told my husband it looked like Roger had been “kanyed” – a word I like to use when someone rudely interrupts someone else.
I rewound my DVR to try to see where she came from – she just seemed to appear out of nowhere – and saw the name Elinor Burkett on the bottom of the screen. So, I figured she was Elinor, but how rude to interrupt Roger like that. What I didn’t hear is her say “Isn’t it just like a man not to let the woman talk?” before she grabbed the mike. I didn’t notice any animosity from Roger, so I figured it was just some weird hogging of the spotlight moment.
It did peak my curiosity enough to look it up today and I found out the story behind the speech. As it turns out, Roger gave an award winning performance by not getting more upset. I read that Elinor had been a producer on the film, but was removed last year after the two argued over the direction the film should take. She sued Roger over her dismissal and the suit was later settled out of court.
I guess since her name was still attached to the film, Elinor felt she deserved to be up on the podium. She claims that the idea for the film came from her and that Roger kept the invites to Oscar parties from her. One of my favorite parts is that Elinor claimed Roger’s elderly mother, who was at the ceremony, tried to stop her from getting on stage by tripping her with her cane!
For his part, Roger says his mother was only standing to hug him and the film was as much his idea as it was Elinor’s. He was also upset by Elinor interrupting his big moment, but he was going to get a chance to give his entire speech tonight on “Larry King Live.”