Fabric Origin | Once commonplace in the United States, today Los Angeles is by far the largest and one of the last American cities to provide free and freely repaired musical instruments to its public schoolchildren, a continuous service since 1959. From Academy Award®-nominated directing duo Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers, The Last Repair Shop grants an all access pass to the nondescript downtown warehouse where a dwindling handful of devoted craftspeople keep over 80,000 student instruments in good repair.
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/last-repair-shop-010308480.html
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‘The Last Repair Shop’ Documents Unique City-run Service to Fix Students’ Instruments
The stories of hardship, dedication and a love for music in the Oscar-nominated short documentary “The Last Repair Shop” — about the unseen heroes servicing musical instruments for Los Angeles Unified School District students — tend to leave no viewer unmoved, least of all the film’s co-directors, Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers. (The film is co-distributed by Searchlight and L.A. Times Studios.)
“I still involuntarily cry, and we’ve been watching this movie for four years,” says LAUSD alumnus Bowers, a sought-after film and television composer when not collaborating with Proudfoot. (They also made the 2021 Oscar-nominated “A Concerto Is a Conversation.”) Bowers cites the tale of Paty — a brass instrument technician who, before getting hired at the shop, struggled to survive — as especially affecting, having become a father himself since beginning work on the film. “Her vulnerability and openness about what it was like to be a single mom without the resources to provide for her family, it breaks me down.”
Count L.A.’s own leaders among the affected, too. Says Proudfoot, “We were at City Hall, and these tough council people were like, ‘I played the trumpet!’ ” He calls the film “this special key that unlocks everybody’s childhood.”
What went through your mind when you learned about this hidden jewel of a city-funded service, operating for six decades?
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Read more on this endeavor and documentary here:
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2024-02-14/last-repair-shop-oscars-documentary-short-film
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The Last Repair Shop – WATCH NOW – Breakwater Studios
https://breakwaterstudios.com/the-last-repair-shop/
‘The Last Repair Shop’ Documents Unique City-run Service to Fix Students’ Instruments
