Halifax filmmaker has fingers crossed for third Oscar nomination

Awards season is officially underway after the 81st Golden Globes were handed out Sunday night in Beverly Hills. And one Halifax filmmaker is crossing his fingers for the opportunity to again be part of the upcoming Academy Awards.

Ben Proudfoot earned his first Oscar nomination in 2020 for directing the documentary film “A Concerto Is a Conversation.”

He officially became an Academy Award winner a year later when he won for “The Queen of Basketball” in the Best Documentary Short Subject category.

Now, Proudfoot is on his way to possibly land his third nomination in four years.

His latest film, “The Last Repair Shop,” made the Oscars shortlist, meaning it is one of 15 in the Documentary Short Film category that have a chance of getting nominated.

More than 100 films qualified in the category, according to The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Proudfoot says each Oscars nomination he’s received has been thrilling.

“It’s totally exciting every time because the people involved are always different,” he told CTV Atlantic’s Katie Kelly during a recent interview.

The subject of his latest film is the Los Angeles Unified School District’s musical instrument repair shop.

“The movie’s about four different repair people who work there and the kids who benefit and it’s a celebration of music and the will to repair,” he says.

Proudfoot thinks an Academy Award nomination would be great, but says exposure for the film is the real prize.

“Really, what we’re hoping is that as many people as possible get to watch the movie, that people feel what we’re trying to tell – the story we’re trying to tell about the importance of music education,” he says. “The importance of, in a broader scale, just feeling like things are worth repairing instead of discarding.”

Martha Cooley, the executive director of the Atlantic Film Festival, says one of the things that stands out from Proudfoot’s work is his authentic connection to his subjects.

“All of his films are really character studies,” she says. “They all have sort of a larger topic, but they end up really connecting with the personal story of the people that he interviews.”

“My thinking is, genuine curiosity is the most important ingredient,” Proudfoot says.

He adds a big part of that curiosity comes from being a Maritimer.

“(You) land at the airport in Halifax and hop in a Casino taxi and say, ‘How’s your day?” And you’re going to get a great story – you’re probably going to get probably five or six great stories by the time you get to where you’re going,” he says.

Nominations for the 96th Academy Awards will be announced on Jan. 23.

“The Last Repair Shop” is available to steam on YouTube.