Halifax-born filmmaker Ben Proudfoot says he wouldn鈥檛 be heading to the Oscars with his third nomination in four years if it weren鈥檛 for the conversations he had in the place he grew up.
鈥淚f you've ever spent any time in Nova Scotia, in the Maritimes, you know we love a good yarn,鈥� the 33-year-old says on a video call from Los Angeles.
鈥淭he oral storytelling tradition in that part of Canada is very strong. If you look at my films, it鈥檚 all oral storytelling at the baseline. I think that comes from growing up talking to a cab driver, talking to a custodian at the school, and just getting the full story on whatever they wanted to tell me about.鈥�
Proudfoot鈥檚 skill at pulling yarns earned him his first Oscar nod in 2020 for the short doc 鈥淎 Concerto Is a Conversation" 鈥� which tracks co-director Kris Bowers' lineage through his 91-year-old jazz pianist grandpa 鈥� and made him an Academy Award winner in 2022 for the short doc 鈥淭he Queen of Basketball,鈥� about the late basketball trailblazer Lusia (Lucy) Harris.
His latest film, 鈥淭he Last Repair Shop,鈥� also co-directed by L.A.'s Bowers, is set to compete in the best documentary short category at the L.A. awards bash on Sunday.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 not something that I ever expected would have come this early in my career,鈥� Proudfoot says of his Oscars success.
If there鈥檚 a throughline in his films, it鈥檚 that they鈥檙e all 鈥渟tories that are lifting up people who deserve more credit.鈥�
In 鈥淭he Last Repair Shop,鈥� those people are the skilled technicians who work at the Los Angeles Unified School District鈥檚 64-year-old musical instrument repair workshop. It鈥檚 one of the last in the United States to offer free instruments, and free repairs, to students.
The film profiles four of the shop鈥檚 technicians, as well as a few of the tens of thousands of students whose lives have been enriched by their work.聽
It faces competition from John Hoffman and Christine Turner's "The Barber of Little Rock" and Sheila Nevins and Trish Adlesic's "The A小蓝视频s of Book Banning."
Also competing is S. Leo Chiang and Jean Tsien's "Island In Between," and Sean Wang and Sam Davis' "N菐i Nai & W脿i P贸."
Last month, the LAUSD鈥檚 Education Foundation announced a $15 million capital campaign to invest in the future of the film鈥檚 repair shop, including a student apprenticeship program for aspiring instrument technicians.
The success of 鈥淭he Last Repair Shop鈥� has been like 鈥渁n extended Christmas鈥� for the technicians and students featured in the film, says Proudfoot.
鈥淓verybody has a sparkle in their eye. I don't think any of them ever thought this could have happened.鈥�
The film starts with Porch茅 Brinker, an 11-year-old violinist who tells the camera about various health problems in her family.聽
鈥淚f I didn鈥檛 have my violin from school鈥 don鈥檛 know what I would do,鈥� she says.
Proudfoot says Brinker will be his guest at the Oscars.
鈥淚t's an incredibly crazy journey for these kids, but they're loving it. It's just such an exciting and hopeful and joyful thing in what can be a very dark and difficult world,鈥� he says.
All four technicians featured in the film will join them on the red carpet.
鈥淭hey're friggin' thrilled. They're running around like, 鈥榃hat am I going to wear? Who's going to do my hair? Will we see Bradley Cooper? Will we see Billie Eilish? Will we see Martin Scorsese?鈥�
Proudfoot says that besides advocating for the importance of music education, he hopes his film instills in viewers the will to fix what is broken 鈥� whether that's a mobile device or a relationship.
鈥淪omething profoundly moving to me is these are people who show up every day and fix things in a society where if your iPhone stops working, you get a new one,鈥� says Proudfoot.聽
鈥淲e don't live in a world where things are repaired, and I think that it's corrosive to our soul. We all have broken relationships, broken promises. Our world is full of broken things that need our attention.鈥�
The technicians tell their life stories in the doc, with each sharing how music helped heal them from past traumas. Steve Bagmanyan, the shop鈥檚 general manager, says he learned to tune pianos in the United States after escaping ethnic persecution in Azerbaijan.
Proudfoot says it鈥檚 鈥渏ust a gift from the documentary gods鈥� that the technicians all happened to have poignant backstories.聽
鈥淏ut I was also genuinely curious about them, and when you're genuinely curious about someone, they're much more likely to reveal themselves to you, and tell you the truth,鈥� he says.聽
鈥淲e were lucky, but it also just goes to show that everybody has a good story if you've lived long enough on the planet.鈥�
"The Last Repair Shop" streams in Canada on Disney Plus. The 96th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, airs Sunday night on A小蓝视频 and CTV.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2024.
Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press
