Film featuring Armenian story shortlisted for 2024 Oscar
According to the Armenian Film Society, “The Last Repair Shop,” a short documentary directed by Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers, has been shortlisted for Best Documentary Short Film at the Oscars. The film features an Armenian character at the center of its story.
The documentary follows the lives of four dedicated craftspeople in Los Angeles who are responsible for maintaining over 80,000 student musical instruments. The general manager, Steve Bagmanyan, leads the team, and his personal story of ethnic persecution in Azerbaijan in the 1980s is central to the film’s narrative. The documentary blends the intimate personal histories of the craftsmen with firsthand accounts from student musicians, for whom the instruments have made all the difference.
Both Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers were nominated for an Academy Award in 2021, and Ben Proudfoot won an Academy Award in 2022.