Film celebrates success of handicapped band

Newsday

11 March 2011

Following the success of Bulawayo-based Liyana Band in a documentary titled Music by Prudence that won an Oscar last year, the group has come up with a longer version of the award-winning film titled iThemba.

The latest documentary premiered at Prince Edward School this week through support from the US Embassy.

iThemba, which means “hope” in isiNdebele, has been shown in other countries and this is its first time to be screened in Zimbabwe.

The film follows the lives, dreams and hard work of Liyana, a band from the King George VI School for the Disabled in Bulawayo.

Liyana’s eight members have various handicaps, yet live independently and have won devoted audiences from rural Zimbabwe to Hollywood.

iThemba was shot during the 2008 presidential election when the country’s economy was undergoing a dramatic meltdown.

It unfolds against the backdrop of political tensions and the daily struggle to find a bank with cash on hand to buy food in stores with empty shelves, and to navigate streets pockmarked with wheelchair-mangling potholes.

Far from being another demoralising documentary about Africa, iThemba is an unexpected, funny and poignant narrative about eight compelling young people who refuse to succumb to the stigma of disability or the collapse of their country.

Their musical passion and fierce determination eventually took them on a dream tour to the United States.

Over 250 students, filmmakers, NGO leaders, senior government officials and disabled persons attended the colourful premier.

Speaking at the premier, US Ambassador Charles Ray said there was need to work towards overcoming negative stereotypes and misinformation usually associated with the disabled.

“Zimbabwe faces many of the same challenges in overcoming prejudice about disabilities that we faced and still face in America. The need to overcome negative stereotypes and misinformation is an ongoing struggle. But there is hope and action occurring here in Zimbabwe,” said Ambassador Ray.

According to recent research, more than one million Zimbabweans have some type of disability and the loss to Zimbabwe’s economy through their under-employment and unemployment is nearly $200 million dollars annually.

“These are large numbers. They show that helping people with disabilities through fair and equal treatment is good for all Zimbabweans,” said the US ambassador who also hailed the young musicians in Liyana, noting that “the vibrant, dynamic young musicians of Liyana inspire me by their passion and skill as musicians”.

“They inspire me as they have leapt over barriers, and broken down walls with their determination and passion.”

Commenting on the documentary, education minister David Coltart said the film made him feel “uplifted”.

“Liyana (band members) are not just great ambassadors for Zimbabwe. This film is very appropriately named, iThemba, it speaks of hope. This band and its members are preachers of hope not just for communities and individuals, but for our nation and other disabled people throughout the world,” said minister Coltart.

Co-director of the documentary Elinor Burkett, a former Fulbright professor who taught at the National University for Science and Technology in 2006, hailed the King George VI and Jairos Jiri schools which provide facilities for disabled students to explore their potential.

“You give young people the chance, and you never know how far they will go,” she said. Burkett co-directed the film with Jamaican Erroll Webber.