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The Last Repair Shop

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The Last Repair Shop
Official poster
Directed by
Produced by
  • Ben Proudfoot
  • Jeremy Lambert
  • Josh Rosenberg
  • Kris Bowers
Starring
  • Dana Atkinson
  • Paty Moreno
  • Duane Michaels
  • Steve Bagmanyan
CinematographyDavid Feeney-Mosier
Edited byNick Garnham Wright
Music by
Production
company
Distributed by
Release date
  • September 1, 2023 (2023-09-01) (Telluride)
Running time
40 minutes
Country
  • United States
LanguageEnglish

The Last Repair Shop is a 2023 Canadian-American short documentary film directed by Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers. Produced by Breakwater Studios, the film had its premiere on September 1, 2023 at the 50th Telluride Film Festival.[1] On March 10, 2024, it won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film at the 96th Academy Awards.[2][3][4]

Summary

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Since 1959, Los Angeles has been one of the few United States cities to offer and fix musical instruments for its public school students at no cost. Those instruments, numbering around 80,000, are maintained at a Los Angeles downtown warehouse by a handful of craftspeople. The film profiles four of them, each specializing in an orchestra section, as well as students whose lives have been enriched by the repair shop's work. The film concludes with a performance by district alumni.[5]

Cast

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  • Dana Atkinson
  • Paty Moreno
  • Duane Michaels
  • Steve Bagmanyan

Production

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Proudfoot and Bowers previously co-directed A Concerto Is a Conversation, a 2021 Oscar nominee in the short documentary category. The film's producer, Jeremy Lambert, passed along an article on the Los Angeles Unified School District's 64-year-old instrument repair workshop.[6]

The workshop, much smaller than Bowers had imagined when he was an LAUSD student, became the subject of the film, including profiles of four of the workshop's craftspeople. Bowers, whose first instrument was a school-provided saxophone, felt they should also profile students.[6] Among the staff interviewed was Steve Bagmanyan, a piano technician and an Armenian refugee from Azerbaijan, who had tuned the pianos Bowers had used in elementary and middle school.[7] A number of the students interviewed in the film are from the Colburn School, a music and arts school in Los Angeles which Bowers also attended.[8] One of those featured students was violinist Porché Brinker; she shared the stage with Proudfoot and Bowers when they were awarded the Oscar.[5]

Release

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The film had its world premiere on September 1, 2023 at the 50th Telluride Film Festival in the 'Main Slate: Episodic Form and Short Form' section.[9] On September 24, it won Best Documentary Short Film at the 2023 Calgary International Film Festival.[10]

It was screened at the Middleburg Film Festival in October 2023.[11] In that same month, Searchlight Pictures and L.A. Times Studios acquired the film, making it available for free on the Los Angeles Times YouTube channel and website on November 8, 2023 and on Disney and related platforms worldwide on January 23, 2024.[12][13][14][15]

On February 16, 2024, the film was screened on more than 700 screens in the U.S. and Canada as part of ShortsTV’s 19th Annual Oscar Nominated Short Films theatrical release.[16]

The film aired on American Broadcasting Company owned television stations and select affiliates on February 17, 2024. It is the first Oscar-nominated short film to air on television.[17]

Impact of the film on social milieu

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LAUSD Education Foundation is embarking on a $15 million campaign to benefit the musical instrument repair operation documented in The Last Repair Shop. The fund will support the workshop and its talented staff, and also sponsor a training program for students who will become future instrument technicians.[18] The Oscar-winning documentary short The Last Repair Shop prompted a flow of donations to the program.[5]

Original soundtrack

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The Last Repair Shop
Soundtrack album by
Katya Richardson and Kris Bowers
ReleasedNovember 24, 2023 (2023-11-24)[19]
Recorded2023
GenreSoundtrack
Length29:54
LanguageEnglish
LabelLakeshore Records
Audio Full Album
audio icon The Last Repair Shop (Original Score)
There are 22 tracks in the album:
No.TitleArtistLength
1."The Last Repair Shop"Katya Richardson, Kris Bowers2:06
2."Dana: Strings"Katya Richardson0:38
3."It’s Hard Being a Kid"Katya Richardson0:40
4."I Thought I Was Broken"Katya Richardson, Kris Bowers1:13
5."Practice Makes Perfect"Katya Richardson, Kris Bowers0:38
6."I’m Still Here"Katya Richardson, Kris Bowers0:48
7."Paty: Brass"Katya Richardson0:59
8."My Story"Katya Richardson, Kris Bowers1:13
9."American Dream"Katya Richardson, Kris Bowers0:57
10."My Son"Katya Richardson, Kris Bowers0:51
11."The Test"Katya Richardson, Kris Bowers1:54
12."All These Years"Katya Richardson, Kris Bowers1:29
13."Duane: Woodwinds"Katya Richardson, Kris Bowers0:56
14."Frankenstein"Katya Richardson0:31
15."Swap Meet"Katya Richardson1:04
16."Dream a Little"Katya Richardson0:36
17."Steve: Pianos"Katya Richardson, Kris Bowers2:13
18."Baku, 1987"Katya Richardson, Kris Bowers1:46
19."We Left Everything"Katya Richardson, Kris Bowers1:26
20."See How Life Is?"Katya Richardson, Kris Bowers2:02
21."I Love the Violin"Katya Richardson2:02
22."The Alumni"Kris Bowers3:45
Total length:29:00

Accolades

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Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Calgary International Film Festival October 1, 2023 Best Documentary Short Film The Last Repair Shop Won [20]
Middleburg Film Festival October 22, 2023 Sheila Johnson Vanguard Award Kris Bowers Won [21]
Critics' Choice Documentary Awards November 12, 2023 Best Short Documentary The Last Repair Shop Won [22]
Best Score Katya Richardson & Kris Bowers Nominated
Hollywood Music in Media Awards November 15, 2023 Best Original Score – Short Film (Documentary) The Last Repair Shop Nominated [23]
Astra Film and Creative Awards January 6, 2024 Best Short Film Nominated [24]
Black Reel Awards January 16, 2024 Outstanding Independent Short Film Nominated [25]
Academy Awards March 10, 2024 Best Documentary Short Film Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers Won [26]

Critics' lists

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Publisher Year Listicle Placement Ref.
Variety 2023 Shorts showcase of 15 titles at Doc NYC Included [27]
17th Cinema Eye Honors Shorts List (Cinema Eye's Annual List of the Year's Top Short Documentaries) Included [28]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Carey, Matthew (September 3, 2023). "Directors Ben Proudfoot And Kris Bowers Premiere 'The Last Repair Shop' At Telluride, Doc About Awesome Foursome Who Help L.A. School Kids Make Music". Deadline. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  2. ^ "2024 Oscars Nominations: See the Full List". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. January 23, 2024. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  3. ^ Davis, Clayton (December 21, 2023). "Oscar Shortlists Announced for 10 Categories: 'Barbie' Leads the Way". Variety. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  4. ^ "L.A. Times Short Doc 'The Last Repair Shop' Receives Oscar Nomination". Los Angeles Times. January 23, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Goodyear, Sheena (March 21, 2024). "An Oscar changed everything for this public school instrument repair shop". CBC Radio. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Coates, Tyler (December 19, 2023). "Kris Bowers Is the Busiest Composer in the World". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  7. ^ Chiotakis, Steve (November 16, 2023). "For 6 decades, this shop has offered free instrument repairs to LA students". KCRW. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  8. ^ Goodyear, Sheena (January 23, 2024). "Oscar-nominated doc The Last Repair Shop shows how 'music can change lives'". CBC.
  9. ^ Thompson, Anne (August 30, 2023). "2023 Telluride Film Festival Lineup Leans on Filmmakers Like Lanthimos, Fennell, Haigh, Triet, and More". IndieWire. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  10. ^ Grobar, Matt (October 18, 2023). "Searchlight Pictures, L.A. Times Board Doc Short 'The Last Repair Shop' From Kris Bowers, Ben Proudfoot". Deadline. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  11. ^ "2023 Films & Events". Middleburg Film Festival. October 18, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  12. ^ Kay, Jeremy (October 19, 2023). "Searchlight, L.A. Times Studios acquire award-winning short 'The Last Repair Shop'". ScreenDaily. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  13. ^ Bowers, Kris (November 8, 2023). "The Last Repair Shop". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  14. ^ "What's on Disney Plus". What’s on Disney Plus. December 21, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  15. ^ "The Last Repair Shop". Disney . December 21, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  16. ^ Carey, Matthew (February 13, 2024). "New Trailer Drops For Oscar-Nominated 'The Last Repair Shop' Ahead Of Major Theatrical Release". Deadline. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  17. ^ "'The Last Repair Shop' will be the first Oscar-nominated short to air on television". FOX News Network. February 16, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  18. ^ Carey, Matthew (February 21, 2024). "Oscar-Nominated 'The Last Repair Shop' A Gift That Keeps Giving To L.A.: Latest Is $15M Capital Campaign". Deadline. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  19. ^ "The Last Repair Shop (Original Score)". Apple Music. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  20. ^ Toombs, Aryn (September 25, 2023). "Winners of 2023 CIFF competitions unveiled". LiveWire Calgary. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  21. ^ Magrira (October 29, 2023). "'The Last Repair Shop' – A Moving Short Documentary". Los Angeles Sentinel. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  22. ^ Zilko, Christian (November 12, 2023). "'Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie' Sweeps the Critics Choice Documentary Awards (Complete Winners List)". IndieWire. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  23. ^ "2023 HMMA Winners and Nominees". Hollywood Music in Media Awards. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  24. ^ "AwardsWatch - Barbie and Oppenheimer Lead Hollywood Creative Alliance (HCA) Astra Awards Nominations". AwardsWatch. December 7, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  25. ^ Complex, Valerie (December 15, 2023). "Black Reel Awards Nominations: 'The Color Purple' And 'Rustin' Dominate". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  26. ^ Lang, Brent; Moreau, Jordan (January 23, 2024). "Oscar Nominations 2024: 'Oppenheimer' Dominates With 13 Nods, 'Poor Things' Follows With 11". Variety. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  27. ^ Davis, Clayton (October 17, 2023). "DOC NYC, Key Indicator for Oscars' Documentary Feature Category, Announces Shortlist Including 'American Symphony' and 'Every Body'". Variety. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  28. ^ Carey, Matthew (October 19, 2023). "'The 1619 Project,' 'Nothing Lasts Forever' Lead Charge As Cinema Eye Honors Announces First Round Of Documentary Nominations [Full List]". Deadline. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
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