THE FILM
TITLE: The Last Repair Shop
RELEASE DATE: 01 Sep 2023
WATCH DATE: 24 Feb 2024
TYPE: live-action documentary short film
ACCESS: streaming on YouTube (published by Los Angeles Times), and also streaming on Disney+
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THE PEOPLE
DIRECTOR: Ben Proudfoot, Kris Bowers
PRODUCER: Josh Rosenberg, Ben Proudfoot, Kris Bowers, Jeremy Lambert, Jessica Q. Chen
ACTORS: NA
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THE STORY
RUNTIME: 40min
STORYLINE: the craftsmen of a musical instrument repair shop that serves elementary schools in the LA area share their stories of how they landed such a specific and prestigious job
GENRE/THEMES: documentary, music, children, craftsmanship
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THE CRITIQUE
The Last Repair Shop is essentially a collection of quick biographies of the craftsmen and -women who form the team, or as they say ‘family’, at a musical instrument repair shop in Los Angeles, CA. The shop serves the elementary schools in the LA area, receiving instruments from the music programs that need special attention. Not just anyone can fix your cello. The short film is broken into sections, each focused on the repair departments and the respective craftsmen that repair those instruments - Brass Repair, Spring Instrument Repair, Woodwind Instrument Repair, and Piano Shop. Interviews with a student who plays one of these instruments open that segment of the film, and we get to see the intriguing and touching relationship that exists between the student, the instrument, and the craftsmen.
While these are interesting stories, the film didn't strike me as something wildly special or impactful. It could have been anyone's stories that were told - they just all work at a cool instrument repair shop. The documentary showed fine craftsmanship for film, but I’m not sure it will be competitive against its fellow nominees.
This film is, however, MUCH better than The ABCs of Book Banning.
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THE RECEPTION
NOMINATIONS
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THE IMPRESSION
IN A SINGLE WORD: interesting
MOST STRIKING ELEMENT: craftsmanship
REWATCH: no
RATING: 3 // 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐
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