L.A. Times Short Doc ‘The Last Repair Shop’ Receives Oscar Nomination

Presented by L.A. Times Studios and Searchlight Pictures, “The Last Repair Shop” is a documentary short film about the technicians maintaining student instruments in the L.A. Unified School District. Directed by award-winning filmmaker and musician Kris Bowers and Oscar-winning director Ben Proudfoot, the film has been nominated for best documentary short for the 2024 Academy Awards. The nominations were announced this morning via livestream from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

The film introduces four characters who have dedicated themselves to look after more than 80,000 student instruments, offering the gift of music to the schoolchildren of Los Angeles.

“‘The Last Repair Shop’ is a love letter to our city. It’s a testament to understanding how broken something is — and fixing it anyway,” wrote Bowers in an introduction to the film. “And it’s a tribute to those who toil away, largely without thanks, in service of helping the next generation grow in harmony.”

Produced by Breakwater Studios, “The Last Repair Shop” is currently available on The Times’ YouTube channel and latimes.com, as part of the L.A. Times Short Docs series presented by Canon U.S.A., Inc., the official imaging provider of the L.A. Times. Beginning today, Jan. 23, the film is also available on Disney+ and Hulu.

The 96th Academy Awards will be presented March 10 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. View the film at latimes.com/shortdocs.