BY JOSH TIMEWELL

The following is part-five of a series of interviews with filmmakers who are featured in the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, which takes place from 9-16 July, 2017.

FIXED! is about a Repair Cafe in Toronto, Canada, where volunteers come together and fix broken goods, for free.

It premiered at DOXA, Vancouver earlier this year and will be shown at Valletta Film Festival and the Palm Springs ShortFest.

The film is directed and produced by Cat Mills, based in Toronto. A keen filmmaker and writer, she’s travelled all around the world, seeking the strange and bizarre.

I was able to contact Cat and ask her a few questions.

What was your motivation to put together this film?

“I first heard about the Repair Cafe movement when I was living in Vancouver temporarily after returning from Europe. I was keenly searching for new and interesting stories, while bemoaning the current state of the environment. I stumbled across the Repair Cafe movement after looking into the sharing economy. I loved the movement because I felt it really addressed three major issues in our society;

1. Our throw away culture
2. A dwindling sense of community in major cities
3. A lack of hands-on skills that seems to be the case with younger generations

The concept behind the Repair Cafe was so simple: if it is broken, try to fix it – and yet it also tackled these other issues by bringing people together and teaching them how to do new things. I loved everything about it so started attending events. I thought it would make for an excellent film and it’s been great sharing the story with people all around the world.”

What have been your favourite/most rewarding aspects of the making of the film?

“The most rewarding aspect of making the film has definitely been seeing how receptive people are to FIXED! and to the Repair Cafe movement. It feels like people have been looking to get involved in something like the Repair Cafe for a long time and now they have been offered that opportunity. People who have watched the film have come up to (Producer) Joella Cabalu and I and told us how they now want to start their own Repair Cafes.

It’s also nice to make people laugh!”

What is on your radar for the next few years of your career?

“Right now I am producing a short documentary about an aspiring comedian, named Shelina Merani. I am also producing/ directing two more short films – one called Big Men, Small Dogs, and the other called Mark and Carlos Do Burlesque. I’m developing my first feature which is about Robert “Mr. Bob” Wagner, the World’s Oldest Air Guitarist, which will be shooting mostly next year.”

How has the making of this film been any different to other films you have been part of?

“This film was larger in scope, had proper funding, and involved more people than myself. I’m used to making films where it is usually just me and a camera.”

Is the concept of repair cafes increasing in popularity?

“It sure is! People are starting to talk about the Repair Cafe movement, largely because it is such an empowering movement to be a part of and major news outlets are starting to write about the topic. The Story of Stuff shared our trailer to their facebook followers and we received 17K hits from it – with lots of comments about how people want to see the film and get involved in their own Repair Cafes. The movement only started in 2009, and now there are over 1,000 Repair Cafes around the world. It is growing quickly.”

What sort of impact do you hope to make on the audience of the film?

“I hope the film inspires people to get involved with their local Repair Cafe, or better yet – start their own. I’d really like the film to challenge people on the way they look at the objects in their lives and encourage them to try to fix their own broken items rather than just buying a new one. A huge percentage of the toxic waste that is out there is from electronics – and I think that can be vastly reduced if we take care and do our best to extend the lives of our stuff.

I also hope it makes people get to know their neighbours and spend less time in front of computer screens and more time talking to actual people. I think our digital age can make us quite socially isolated. It is important to have people in our lives, and going out to Repair Cafes is a great way to meet new people and make friends.”

FIXED! is showing July 10, 6.30pm at Longplay, Melbourne.

For more information and tickets, visit www.mdff.org.au

*featured image credit:  https://web.facebook.com/FIXEDdocumentary/posts/766592326821354?_rdc=1&_rdr

For more information about FIXED! visit the Facebook page at:

https://web.facebook.com/FIXEDdocumentary/posts/766592326821354?_rdc=1&_rdr