The Last Repair Shop / Academy Award Winner: Best Short Documentary 2024

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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 The Last Repair Shop 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.

We are first introduced to a student and then the artisan who specializes in their instrument: Dana specializes in strings, Patty in brass, Duane is woodwinds, and Steve is piano. These four unassuming heroes ensure no student is deprived of the joy of music and reminds us how music can be the best medicine, stress reliever and even an escape from poverty.

The film is a 2023 documentary 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. On March 10, 2024, it won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film at the 96th Academy Awards.