Film featuring Armenian who faced persecution in Azerbaijan shortlisted for 2024 Oscars

“The Last Repair Shop,” a short documentary from Academy Award-nominated directing duo Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers, has made the Oscar shortlist for Best Documentary Short Film, the official website of the Academy reports.

The film features four unassuming heroes who ensure no student is deprived of the joy of music.

“They help keep over 80,000 student musical instruments in good repair in the city of Los Angeles, led by the charming general manager, Steve Bagmanyan, who faced ethnic persecution in Azerbaijan in the 1980s. The film blends the unexpectedly intimate personal histories of the repair people with emotional, firsthand accounts from the actual student musicians for whom their instruments made all the difference,” writes the Armenian Film Society.